Bill Text: CA AB2 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 2

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Recycling: solar photovoltaic modules.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2023-09-01 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2

Introduced by Assembly Member Ward

December 05, 2022

An act relating to recycling.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2, as introduced, Ward. Recycling: solar photovoltaic modules.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would create a convenient, safe, and environmentally sound system for the end-of-life management of photovoltaic modules, minimization of hazardous waste, and recovery of commercially valuable materials.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(1) Solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment has grown at unprecedented rates since the early 2000s. In the last decade alone, solar has experienced an average annual growth rate of 33 percent.

(2) Thanks to strong federal policies like the solar investment tax credit, rapidly declining costs, and increasing demand across the private and public sector for clean electricity, there are now more than 130.9 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity installed nationwide, enough to power 23,000,000 homes.

(3) California has been and continues to be a leader in the national transition to solar energy. In 2021, California produced 32 percent, or 28,000 megawatts, of the nation’s total solar PV electricity generation, more than any other state.

(4) As the PV market increases, so will the volume of decommissioned PV panels. Given an average panel lifetime of 30 years, large amounts of annual waste are anticipated by the early 2030s. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by 2030, the United States is expected to have as much as 1,000,000 total tons of solar panel waste. By 2050, the United States is expected to have the second largest number of end-of-life panels in the world, with as many as an estimated 10,000,000 total tons of panels.

(5) Hazardous waste testing on solar panels in the marketplace has indicated that different varieties of solar panels have different metals present in the semiconductor and solder. Some of these metals, like lead and cadmium, are harmful to human health and the environment at high levels. If these metals are present in high enough quantities in the solar panels, solar panel waste could become harmful to the environment if improperly disposed of.

(6) Growing PV panel waste presents not only a new environmental challenge, but also unprecedented opportunities to create value and pursue new economic avenues. These include recovery of raw material and the emergence of new solar PV end-of-life industries.

(7) Sectors like PV recycling will be essential in California’s transition to a sustainable, economically viable, and increasingly renewable-based energy future. To unlock the benefits of those industries, the institutional groundwork needs to be laid in time to meet the expected surge in panel waste.

(8) With the right conditions in place, end-of-life industries for solar PV can thrive as an important pillar of a sustainable solar industry in California.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would create a convenient, safe, and environmentally sound system for the end-of-life management of PV modules, minimization of hazardous waste, and recovery of commercially valuable materials.