Answer
Under the EU WEEE Directive (2012/19/EU), producers pay to collect, treat and recycle solar panel waste from households, for panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012. WEEE means waste electrical and electronic equipment. Since 15 August 2018, panels must reach 85% recovery and 80% preparation for reuse and recycling.
Last updated: November 2026
Panels you install today carry an end-of-life bill, and the EU law says who pays it. The WEEE Directive (2012/19/EU) puts that cost on producers, not on the homeowner or the installer. WEEE means waste electrical and electronic equipment.
Each Member State (an EU country) must also meet a collection target. It is 65% of the average weight of electrical equipment placed on its market in the three preceding years, or 85% of the waste generated. The source is Directive 2012/19/EU (Article 7 and Annex V). This guide sets out those rules. It also shows how Germany, France, Italy and Spain apply them, what each country has collected so far, and what installers need to document. For the background term, see solar panel recycling. For the wider policy context, see solar energy policies in Europe.
What the WEEE Directive Requires for Solar Panels
| Topic | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | PV panels are listed in Annex IV under category 4, large equipment (any dimension over 50 cm) | Directive 2012/19/EU, Annexes III and IV |
| Who pays (households) | Producers finance collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of PV waste from private households deposited at collection facilities, for panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012 | Directive (EU) 2024/884, amending Article 12 |
| Who pays (business users) | Producers finance waste from users other than households, for panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012 | Directive (EU) 2024/884, amending Article 13 |
| Recovery and recycling targets | From 15 August 2018, category 4: 85% recovered, 80% prepared for reuse and recycled | Directive 2012/19/EU, Annex V Part 3 |
| Collection rate | 65% of average weight placed on the market in the three preceding years, or 85% of waste generated, from 2019 | Directive 2012/19/EU, Article 7 |
| Producer register | Each Member State keeps a register of producers; producers register and report | Directive 2012/19/EU, Article 16 |
| Distributor take-back | For household waste, distributors supplying a new product must let the old equivalent item be returned free of charge, one for one | Directive 2012/19/EU, Article 5 |
The 2012 text made producers pay for PV waste from panels placed on the market after 13 August 2005. On 25 January 2022, the Court of Justice of the EU declared that rule invalid for PV panels placed on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012 (Case C-181/20). Directive 2024/884 amended Articles 12 and 13 to move the date to 13 August 2012. Member States had to turn it into national law (transpose it) by 9 October 2025. The directive also tells the European Commission to assess something by 31 December 2026. It must assess whether to create a separate PV category. That category would have collection targets based on expected panel lifetime.
Key Takeaway
The producer is the manufacturer, importer or brand owner that first places panels on a national market. The producer pays for end-of-life handling. It also registers in each country where it sells. The installer’s role is to send removed panels into the take-back system (the system that collects old panels) and keep the paperwork.
Solar Panel Recycling Rules by Country
| Country | Law | PV category | Register or scheme | Recovery and recycling targets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | ElektroG (second version in force for manufacturers from 1 February 2016) | Collection group 6; WEEE category 4 or 5 by size | Stiftung EAR register; PV Cycle and take-e-way cooperatives | 85% recovery, 80% recycling |
| France | Decree 2014-928; Environment Code R.543-171-1 onward | Category 7 | Soren, the approved eco-organisme | 87% recovery, 82% recycling from 2024 |
| Italy | D.Lgs. 49/2014 | Under 10 kWp domestic WEEE; over 10 kWp professional WEEE | National register of subjects obliged to finance WEEE (Article 29); collective systems | Recovery rates up to 85% for PV |
| Spain | Real Decreto 110/2015, amended by RD 208/2022 | Category 7, with subcategories 7.1 to 7.3 | RII-AEE producer register; 12 authorized collective systems | 85% recovered, 80% prepared for reuse and recycled |
Sources for Germany, France and Italy: IEA PVPS Task 12, Status of PV Module Recycling (July 2025). IEA PVPS is the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programme. Source for Spain: the consolidated text of Real Decreto 110/2015 (Annexes III and XIV), Spain’s royal decree on electrical waste. IEA PVPS also reports the Spanish category 7 and the 12 collective systems.
Take-Back Routes and Producer Fees
| Country | Household take-back | Producer fee on file | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Free at municipal collection points or points registered with Stiftung EAR, limited to household quantities (20 to 50 modules under the LAGA guidance); producers organize larger volumes | No public price found in the sources used | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
| France | Soren collects used panels free of charge from holders, with separate routes for fewer or more than 40 panels | EUR 1.73 per framed crystalline module of 20 to 30 kg at the standard rate, excluding VAT, for sales from 1 July 2026 | Soren eco-participation schedule 2026 and soren.eco |
| Italy | Domestic modules go to a national collection centre or back through the installer or distributor | EUR 10 per module, either withheld by GSE from the incentive on plants in the feed-in schemes or paid as a fee to a collective system | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
| Spain | Through the collective systems | No public price found in the sources used | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
France’s schedule from Soren, the approved eco-organisme (the producer take-back body) there, also has lower rates for modules that meet its eco-modulation criteria. For the same 20 to 30 kg band, the bonus rate is EUR 1.38 per module. The super bonus rate is EUR 0.15 per module. The EUR 10 Italian figure applies only to the plants with incentives that GSE’s instructions describe. GSE is the Italian state-owned energy services company. The figure does not apply to every sale.
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Solar Panel Recycling Market by Country
The volumes below are tonnes (t) of panels collected. They are not the value of a recycling market. None of the sources used here publishes a recycling market size in euros.
France
Soren reports 13,760 t of used panels collected in 2025. Of this, 12,879 t came from on-site collection and 881 t from voluntary drop-off points. Soren counts 600 producer members and 323 drop-off points at 31 December 2025, per the Soren 2025 activity report.
| Year | Collected (t) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 366 | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025), data from Soren |
| 2019 | 4,905 | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
| 2023 | 5,207 | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
| 2024 | 9,477 | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
| 2025 | 13,760 | Soren activity report 2025 |
Growth from 2023 to 2024 is +82% (9,477 / 5,207 = 1.82). Soren’s 2025 report calls the 2025 increase 40%. But the two tonnage figures above give +45% (13,760 / 9,477 = 1.45). The difference may come from a revised 2024 base (a changed figure). So quote the tonnages with their sources.
Soren treated 12,736 t in 2025. Of this, 10,684 t were recycled (83.89%). Another 1,298 t went to energy recovery (10.19%), which means using the waste to make energy. And 754 t were disposed of (5.92%). The three parts add to 12,736 t. Soren expects about 180,000 t of panels to treat in 2040.
Spain
Spain placed 448,893 t of PV modules on the market in 2022 and 629,214 t in 2023 (category 7). The waste collected is far smaller: 2,603 t in 2022. IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) reports that about 22,000 t of PV module waste was processed in 2023. It projects around 34,000 t by 2030 and 150,000 t by 2050.
Spain’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITERD) set minimum collection targets for 2024. They cover professional PV modules and total 270,301 t. The targets are spread across nine collective systems (groups of producers that run collection together) and individual systems. The report lists treatment plants with authorized capacities including 4,000 t a year (Reciclajes Pozo Canada), 3,840 t (FCC Ambito, silicon cells only), 800 t (La Hormiga Verde) and 510 t (Solar Recycling). It also lists a planned 10,000 t a year plant by ROSI in Teruel. All of this is from IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025).
Germany
Germany registers producers with Stiftung EAR, the German register for electrical waste. For 2025, EAR reports more than 11,000 t collected in group 6 (PV modules). That is just over 1% of the 960,540 t of all electrical waste collected. EAR also says large and small PV modules together make up about 26% of the 3,386,806 t of equipment placed on the market that year (Stiftung EAR, 2025 statistics). Eurostat is the EU’s statistics office. Its data, reported by IEA PVPS Task 12, gives 16,430 t of PV waste collected in 2022. It also gives about 703,000 t placed on the market in 2022. The two series use different definitions, so do not compare them directly.
IEA PVPS Task 12 also quotes a 2016 projection by IRENA (the International Renewable Energy Agency) and PVPS. It expects 400,000 to 1,000,000 t of cumulative PV waste in Germany by 2030, depending on module lifetime. Cumulative means the total over all years, not one year.
Italy
Italy collected 21,943 t of PV modules in 2022. That was 628 t from households and 21,315 t from other sources. It is the largest amount among EU countries in the Eurostat data. It is up from 1,350 t in 2018. IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) prints 21,943 t in its text and 21,493 t in its table. So the exact figure is uncertain by about 450 t.
Europe
Eurostat data compiled by IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) shows how much PV module waste was collected in 2022. It was 16,430 t in Germany, about 21,900 t in Italy, 3,582 t in France and 2,603 t in Spain. The report gives a total of 48,395 t for 18 countries.
- Italy21,943 t
- Germany16,430 t
- France3,582 t
- Spain2,603 t
Source: Eurostat data compiled in IEA PVPS Task 12, Status of PV Module Recycling (July 2025), checked October 2026.
Pro Tip
Compare countries only within one year and one source. The 2025 figures from Soren and Stiftung EAR use national definitions, so they do not line up with the 2022 Eurostat series above.
What Installers Must Do Under WEEE
Installers are not producers unless they place panels on a market under their own name. The checklist below covers what the sources describe.
| Step | What to do | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Confirm that the panel supplier is registered as a producer in the country of sale | Directive 2012/19/EU Article 16; national registers: EAR (Germany), Soren membership (France), RII-AEE (Spain), national register under D.Lgs. 49/2014 Article 29 (Italy) |
| Take-back | Offer to take the old equivalent panel back when supplying a new one, and route removed panels to the national scheme | Directive 2012/19/EU Article 5; Soren free collection in France; municipal points in Germany |
| Documentation | For plants in Italy’s feed-in schemes, send GSE the Annex 8.1 form within 60 days of the work, with a waste identification form (FIR) and a certificate of treatment for professional modules | IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025), citing GSE’s October 2023 instructions |
| Thin-film panels | Route cadmium telluride modules to facilities licensed for them; Spain defines hazardous PV subcategory 7.3 and a specific CdTe treatment, and Soren sends its CdTe stream to First Solar’s plant in Germany | RD 110/2015 Annex III and treatment annex; IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) |
The sources used here do not say how long installers must keep documents. They also do not give fine ranges or rules on personal liability. So this page does not state them. Check the national law for the country where you do the work.
Specify end-of-life-friendly modules in your SurgePV BOM
SurgePV produces a bill of materials (a parts list) from the design. Module models and quantities sit on the project record you hand to the client. See solar design software or the Europe solar compliance hub.
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Reuse and Second Life
IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) reports three things about reuse in Europe. First, independent companies do most reuse, repair and refurbishment of PV modules, without manufacturer support. Second, the sector is small and informal. Third, few rules or standards cover testing, certification and labelling of refurbished modules. A second-life sale raises a legal question: is the panel waste or a product? Confirm the answer with the national authority before you ship.
For permitting alongside end-of-life duties, see solar permit requirements in Europe and the regulations hub. For the economics of the Italian market, see solar panel ROI in Italy.
To put module data and compliance notes on one project record, book a SurgePV demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are solar panels covered by the WEEE Directive in Europe?
Yes. PV panels are listed in Annex IV of Directive 2012/19/EU under category 4, large equipment. Producers must register in each Member State where they sell. Since Directive (EU) 2024/884, they pay for end-of-life handling of panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012.
What is the WEEE recycling target for solar panels in Europe?
From 15 August 2018, category 4 waste must reach 85% recovery and 80% preparation for reuse and recycling (Annex V Part 3). Member States must also meet a collection target. It is 65% of the average weight of equipment placed on the market over the previous three years, or 85% of the waste generated.
Who pays for solar panel recycling in Europe?
Producers do, for panels placed on the market from 13 August 2012. They can pay on their own or through a collective scheme. They must also give a guarantee when they place a product on the market. France’s Soren, the approved eco-organisme (the producer take-back body) there, charges an eco-participation (a fee) per module. It is EUR 1.73 at the standard rate for a framed crystalline module of 20 to 30 kg (sales from 1 July 2026, excluding VAT).
How much solar panel waste does each country collect?
Here are the latest figures we found, in tonnes (t). France: 13,760 t in 2025 (Soren). Germany: more than 11,000 t in 2025 (Stiftung EAR). Italy: 21,943 t in 2022. Spain: 2,603 t in 2022. The Italy and Spain figures are from Eurostat, via IEA PVPS Task 12. Definitions and years differ between countries.
What does Recycling von photovoltaischen Paneelen mean under German rules?
In Germany, PV modules (Photovoltaikmodule) fall under the ElektroG as collection group 6. By size, they also count as WEEE category 4 or 5. The ElektroG is the German law on electrical and electronic equipment and its waste. Stiftung EAR registers producers. Households can return modules free of charge at municipal or EAR-registered collection points, in household quantities.
Do installers have obligations under the WEEE Directive?
Installers are not producers under the directive unless they place panels on the market under their own name. For household waste, distributors that supply a new product must let the buyer return the old equivalent item free of charge. National rules add paperwork duties. One example is the GSE Annex 8.1 form for feed-in-scheme plants in Italy.
Can solar panels be reused instead of recycled?
Yes, but the rules are unclear. IEA PVPS Task 12 (2025) says reuse and refurbishment in Europe is small and informal. There are few standards for testing and labelling refurbished modules.
Where this fits
This article is part of SurgePV's Solar Technology hub, which works through the topic from first principles to the decisions a project team actually has to make.
