The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the environment - Deseret News

The dark side of ‘green energy’ and its threat to the environment - Deseret News: A global look at renewable energy waste streams is sounding the alarm that countries and industry need to prepare now. There is a looming monumental hazardous waste problem once these solar, batteries and windmills reach their end of life.

Research underscores there are few incentives to recycle solar panels, as the cost of recovering the materials outweighs the costs of extracting what can be recycled — even without adding in transportation expenses. The issue foreshadows the potential for the creation of a new class of hazardous waste sites under EPA Superfund designations as clean energy operators walk away from a large volume of materials that contaminate the soil and groundwater.

“It is foreseeable that the same kind of practices could occur with respect to (solar) panels in the absence of very effective programs for the collecting and recycling of PV panels available where PV panels are used,” the paper said.