SANYO Europe has announced that it is the first manufacturer to sign a binding participation agreement with PV CYCLE. PV CYCLE has been set up to establish an organizational structure for common collection and recycling of end of life photovoltaic modules.
The organization currently has 107 members that together represent more than 85% of the European photovoltaic’s market. SANYO is the first member to sign the PV CYCLE Participation Contract. This contract is a legally binding form to contribute a share to the financing of the scheme, thereby ensuring reliable funding of the collection and recycling operation.
It is estimated that 1.4 million tons of photovoltaic modules have been sold in Europe before 2010 and some of these are already waste. In 2010 alone, 6000 MWp of photovoltaic modules will be sold in Europe and with an average weight of 100 t / MWp, this alone represents a future waste of 600,000 tons.
Considering the dramatic growth of the market over the past few years, the amount of waste will grow exponentially over the coming years. The cost for collection and recycling of PV modules in 2010 is EUR 240 / ton however there are reasonable expectations, that this cost can be reduced over time as the amount of processed waste increases over time.
“I am very proud that SANYO is the first member of PV CYCLE to sign this legally binding Participation Contract” says Wilfried Taetow, Advisor of SANYO Component Europe GmbH. “This confirms our corporate commitment towards environmental safety and sustainable production.
“Even an eco-friendly product like a PV module will eventually become waste – and we as a manufacturer have to take care of it. PV CYCLE is the correct solution for this problem, because it allows Europe-wide collection and full recycling of our modules once they reach the end of their lifetime and become waste.
“As member of the PV CYCLE Board and Treasurer of the association, I have to highlight the importance of a reliable funding. Every common collection and recycling system requires from its members certain solidarity amongst competitors, which is sometimes hard to accept but absolutely necessary for the final success of the association.
“I would like to encourage all members to join and sign the Participation Contract in order to make PV CYCLE a story of success.”
By signing the Participation Contract of PV CYCLE, SANYO fulfils the requirements set out by Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) regarding the guaranteed collection and recycling of its PV modules. Such a guarantee will become a formal requirement for all modules funded through KfW from 1st of October 2010.
In July 2007, several manufacturers of photovoltaic modules joined together to establish an organization for the common collection and recycling of end-of-live PV modules. SANYO was amongst the first members and since then, the PV CYCLE association has grown dramatically, with membership totalling 107 companies, together representing more than 85% of the European PV market.
Since its foundation 3 years ago, members of PV CYCLE have worked to agree the financing principles to ensure the reliable funding of the collection and recycling operation. The proposed framework was accepted this year with the vast majority of members voting ion favour at the General Assembly in June 2010.
As part of the agreement, a framework for establishing module Collection Points has been devised and already more than 80 installers / distributors have registered to become official Collection Points with numbers growing each week. In addition to this, logistic- and recycling-companies have been appointed and the distribution of Collection Boxes to the Collection Points has too commenced.
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