Japan Diet OKs Bill to Promote Solar Panel Recycling

Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Diet, or parliament, enacted a bill on Friday to oblige power plant operators to draw up and submit plans to dispose of used solar panels. At the day’s plenary meeting, the House of Councillors, the upper Diet chamber, approved the bill by a majority vote with support from the ruling bloc and some opposition parties. The House of Representatives, the lower chamber, approved the bill earlier this month. With the annual volume of used solar panels predicted to reach about 500,000 tons around 2040, up six times the current level, the legislation is aimed at promoting recycling and reducing the amount of panels for final disposal. Under the law, megasolar power plant operators will be required to submit plans including the amount of panels to be discarded as well as the timing of and methods for disposal. The government will issue guidance or orders to operators whose disposal plans are inadequate. Operators that do not abide by the orders will face penalties. The government will also introduce a system to certify recycling operators’ plans for efficiently converting used solar panels into reusable materials. As special measures, it will allow collection and transport of used panels across prefectural borders and ease the standards on the storage amount of used panels. The legislation also has an additional provision calling for a study on further reforming the solar panel recycling system in light of the possibility that recycling will become mandatory in the future. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]