DECEMBER 21 — The world is sprinting towards a renewable future. Solar panels glitter on rooftops, wind turbines pierce the skylines, and electric vehicles hum on our streets. We rightly celebrate every gigawatt of clean energy installed as a victory against climate change. But in our urgent race to decarbonise, we are hurtling towards a new environmental crisis, one hidden in plain sight: a massive waste problem. One research, a comprehensive review of the circular economy within the renewable energy sector, reveals a troubling paradox. While we are building a green energy system for the future, we are doing so with a largely linear, “take-make-dispose” model from the past. The solar panels and wind turbine blades we install today are the landfill challenges of tomorrow – and that “tomorrow” is arriving much sooner than we think.

We are talking about the looming tidal wave of waste, as described in a recent paper. The growth trends are undeniable. Global capacity for solar and wind has skyrocketed. But this success story has a final chapter we haven’t written yet. We project that by 2050, the world could be facing over 80 million metric tons of solar panel waste and tens of millions of tons of wind turbine blade composite material.

These are not simple materials; they are complex composites of glass, silicon, rare earth elements, plastics, and resins. Burying them in landfills is not just an environmental travesty; it’s an economic folly, a reckless squandering of valuable critical materials.

There are gaps we must bridge.

The review identified three critical gaps that are preventing a circular transition:

  • The technology gap: Frankly, recycling today is not good enough. For solar panels, it’s often a downcycling process that recovers only glass and aluminium frames, while the most valuable materials like silver and high-purity silicon are lost. For turbine blades, the most common end-of-life solution remains co-processing in cement kilns or landfill. We lack cost-effective, scalable technologies to achieve high-value material recovery.
  • The policy chasm: There is a stunning lack of global regulation. The European Union’s WEEE Directive is a start, but it’s the exception, not the rule. In most countries, there is no clear extended producer responsibility (EPR) holding manufacturers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products. Without a policy push, the economic incentive to invest in recycling and reuse remains weak.
  • The design blind spot: Renewable technologies were designed for maximum efficiency and durability, not for disassembly. They are engineered to withstand decades of harsh weather, not to be taken apart easily. We are locking in waste for the next 20–30 years with every new panel and turbine we install today that isn’t designed for a second life or easy recycling.

We must think of a future-focused blueprint for a truly clean energy sector. The situation is urgent, but not hopeless. The gaps are clear, and so are the solutions.

Solar panels glitter across the Klang Valley but experts warn that without a circular approach, the panels of today could become the waste challenge of tomorrow. — File picture by Hari Anggara
Solar panels glitter across the Klang Valley but experts warn that without a circular approach, the panels of today could become the waste challenge of tomorrow. — File picture by Hari Anggara

The authors propose a three-pillar strategy for a circular renewable energy sector:

  • Design for circularity, now: This is the most crucial step. We must push manufacturers and researchers to pioneer “Design for Disassembly and Recycling” (DfD/R). This means using reversible adhesives, standardising components, marking materials for easy sorting, and selecting materials based on their recyclability from the outset. A turbine blade or solar panel should have a “material passport” detailing its contents for future recyclers.
  • Innovate in recovery and reuse: We need a moonshot for recycling technology. Governments and industry must fund R&D into advanced methods like chemical recycling for composites and hydrometallurgical processes for solar cells to recover high-purity materials. Furthermore, we must prioritise “reuse” over “recycle.” A decommissioned solar panel may still operate at 80% efficiency – perfect for secondary markets. A used turbine blade can be repurposed into bridges or pedestrian walkways.
  • Implement smart, stringent policy: Policymakers must act with foresight. Implementing strong EPR schemes will create the financial backbone for a recycling ecosystem. Setting mandatory recycling targets and creating standards for recycled content in new products will drive market demand for circular materials.

The renewable energy sector was born from a vision of a sustainable future. It’s time to complete that vision. We cannot build a clean energy system on a foundation of future waste. By embracing a circular economy – where every end-of-life product is seen not as trash, but as a treasure trove of materials for the next generation of clean tech – we can ensure that the energy transition is not just green in its operation, but in its very soul. The time for a circular clean energy revolution is now.

It is clear from this example that green is not necessarily sustainable. It must not be a linear green, but rather a circular green to meet and comply with true sustainability.

* Professor Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim is affiliated with the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy Studies at UCSI University and is an Adjunct Professor at the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, Universiti Malaya. He can be reached at [email protected].

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.