By Amb. Canon Otto
Convener, Global Sustainability Summit
Contributor, Sustainability Unscripted
The global solar revolution is one of the most encouraging sustainability stories of our generation. Across continents, rooftops are turning into power plants, deserts into energy hubs, and communities once left behind are gaining access to clean, reliable electricity.
But every revolution has a shadow.
As we celebrate record-breaking solar installations, a critical question remains largely unanswered: what happens to solar panels when they reach the end of their life?
This is the conversation we must now have — honestly, urgently, and without delay.
Clean Energy Must Be Sustainable from Start to Finish
Solar panels are designed to last 20 to 30 years. Many of the earliest installations across Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa are now approaching retirement. By 2050, global solar panel waste is projected to reach tens of millions of tonnes.
If unmanaged, today’s clean energy solution risks becoming tomorrow’s environmental crisis.
Broken or abandoned panels contain glass, aluminum, silicon, and trace hazardous materials. Without proper recycling systems, they end up in landfills, informal dumpsites, or are dismantled unsafely — undermining the very climate goals they were meant to advance.
At SustainabilityUnscripted, we believe sustainability cannot be selective. We cannot celebrate clean energy generation while ignoring clean energy disposal.
Africa Must Not Inherit the World’s Solar Waste Problem
As Convener of the Global Sustainability Summit, I have repeatedly stressed that Africa stands at a crossroads. The continent is scaling solar faster than ever — rightly so — but without circular infrastructure in place, Africa risks becoming the final destination for end-of-life solar panels.
This is not speculation. It is a pattern we have seen before with electronic waste, plastics, and industrial by-products.
If we fail to plan now, we will repeat old mistakes under a new green banner.
This is why organisations like CleanCyclers are critical to the future of renewable energy. Solar recycling is not an optional add-on — it is core climate infrastructure.
CleanCyclers and the Case for a Circular Solar Economy
At CleanCyclers, the work goes beyond waste management. It is about redesigning the renewable energy value chain so that materials are recovered, reused, and reintegrated into production.
A circular solar economy:
- Reduces landfill dependency
- Protects soil and water systems
- Creates green jobs and local industries
- Strengthens energy security
More importantly, it ensures that clean energy remains genuinely clean.
Through our engagement with CleanCyclers, we see how innovation, policy alignment, and private-sector leadership can turn solar waste into economic opportunity — particularly in emerging markets.
Policy, Producers, and Responsibility
The future of solar sustainability depends on extended producer responsibility, forward-thinking regulation, and cross-sector collaboration. Governments must move beyond installation targets and begin legislating for end-of-life accountability.
Manufacturers must design panels with recyclability in mind. Investors must support recycling infrastructure with the same enthusiasm they support generation capacity.
And platforms like SustainabilityUnscripted must continue to ask the difficult questions others avoid.
The Real Test of the Solar Revolution
The solar boom is real. Its benefits are undeniable. But history will judge us not only by how much clean energy we produced — but by how responsibly we managed its legacy.
True sustainability looks beyond the present moment. It plans for impact, equity, and longevity.
At SustainabilityUnscripted, in partnership with CleanCyclers, and through the convening power of the Global Sustainability Summit, we will continue to push this conversation forward.
Because a clean energy future that leaves waste behind is not a future at all.
