Public-private partnership versus extended producer responsibility for end-of-life of photovoltaic modules management policy

Abstract

Photovoltaic technology has afforded a sustainable and ecological solution for electricity production. In the first quarter of 2019, the global installed capacity has reached 480-Gigawatt peak, as reported by International Renewable Energy Agency. An enormous amount of End-of-life photovoltaic modules will emerge to the waste streams in the near future. A review of available legislation, policies, and guidelines revealed that end-of-life of photovoltaic modules’ management has not been addressed clearly in many countries. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in the Europe Union is the only available code that has included the end-of-life of photovoltaic modules. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis was used to evaluate the end-of-life of photovoltaic modules’ waste management in Jordan. A quantitative strategic planning matrix was created to compare between the Europe Union’s Extended Producer Responsibility and Private-Public Partnership policy concepts. The quantitative results favor Private-Public Partnership at 5.7 over Extended Producer Responsibility at 4.9 for Jordan. This study offers policy enhancement recommendations for end-of-life of photovoltaic modules’ waste management; the proposed policy encourages both the government and the private sector share the responsibility to manage the waste resulting from using renewable energy technology.