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Frontiers in Solid Waste Recycling Related to PV Industry

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2022) | Viewed by 4799

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Haoran Yuan

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Guest Editor

Guangzhou Institute of Energy Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
Interests: recycling of waste composite materials; pyrolysis treatment of waste high polymer materials

Prof. Dr. Yufeng Wu

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Guest Editor

Institute of Circular Economy, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Interests: sustainable development; circular economy; industrial ecology; waste management; resource recycling; environmental protection; policy design; life cycle assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Qiang Lu

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, College of Renewable Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China
Interests: thermochemical conversion of solid fuels and wastes; recycling and equipment for new energy solid wastes

Dr. Wei Zhang

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Guest Editor

Institute of Circular Economy, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Interests: solid waste treatment; organic and inorganic waste composite material pyrolysis; pyrolysis process simulation and separation of valuable components

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the 21st century, solar photovoltaic as a clean and environmentally friendly renewable energy has gained the attention of governments around the world, and various policies have been issued to support and encourage the development of solar photovoltaic. In 2017, the global installed capacity of PV exceeded 99GW and it reached 626GW by the end of 2019. It’s predicted that the global photovoltaic accumulative installation capacity is expected to reach 1721GW by 2030. Both new and accumulated PV capacity in the world reached new highs. Waste disposal method of photovoltaic modules, either crush buried or burned buried, will cause secondary pollution to environment and it also have energy consumption and pollutant emissions. Maximizing the recycling of waste photovoltaic modules, while taking into account environmental protection and social benefits, is a major issue that needs to be considered in the recycling of photovoltaic modules.

This Special Issue aims to provide the opportunity to discuss research topics on frontiers in solid waste recycling related to PV industry. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

Current situation and trend of recycling waste PV modules
PV module scrap quantity forecast and recycling network planning
Recycling technology of waste photovoltaic modules
Recycling and treatment of organic in waste photovoltaic modules
high-value utilization of waste photovoltaic materials
PV module full life cycle evaluation
Aging of outer material of photovoltaic module and recycling
Recycling and treatment policy of waste photovoltaic modules
Silicon material purification in photovoltaic module recycling
Key technologies and equipment for decomposition and recovery of wasted photovoltaic modules

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Haoran Yuan
Prof. Dr. Yufeng Wu
Prof. Dr. Qiang Lu
Dr. Wei Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

solid waste recycling
sustainable management
photovoltaic recycling
recycling technology
high-value utilization
full life cycle evaluation
recycling network planning
recycling policy
photovoltaic scrap quantity forecast
photovoltaic decomposition and recovery equipment

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3085 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conceptual Design of a Semi-Automatic Process Line for Recycling Photovoltaic Panels as a Way to Ecological Sustainable Production

by Mariusz Niekurzak, Wojciech Lewicki, Hasan Huseyin Coban and Agnieszka Brelik

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2822; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15032822 - 03 Feb 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1886

Abstract

The article presents the developed technology for the comprehensive recycling of depleted, used or damaged photovoltaic (PV) cells made of crystalline silicon. The developed concepts of technology and the results of research on recycling were presented on silicon photovoltaic cells and modules. The sequence of steps and the type of procedures used are proposed. A thermal delamination method for used commercial photovoltaic modules has been developed to separate the materials. In addition, a recycling line was proposed along with the selection of machines and a holistic approach to project profitability based on a SWOT analysis. The presented semi-automatic installation enables recycling on a laboratory scale. The line was designed for the assumed capacity of 30 t/h. The total energy demand for the designed line was calculated, which showed that 16.49 kWh is needed to recycle 1 ton of photovoltaic laminates. Implementation of developed solutions on an industrial scale will allow to reduce production costs, mainly thanks to energy savings, which translates into less devastation of the natural environment and reduced material consumption. In addition, the implementation of the PV module recycling system will reduce and, consequently, eliminate a significant amount of used PV devices deposited in landfills. The content of the article gives a fresh and innovative look at the essence of photovoltaic panel recycling processes in terms of production benefits as well as financial and environmental benefits. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontiers in Solid Waste Recycling Related to PV Industry)

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18 pages, 2985 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis on the Optimal Recycling Path of Chinese Lead-Acid Battery under the Extended Producer Responsibility System

by Xin Zan and Deyuan Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 4950; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14094950 - 20 Apr 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2006

Abstract

The pollution control problem of discarded lead-acid batteries has become increasingly prominent in China. An extended producer responsibility system must be implemented to solve the problem of recycling and utilization of waste lead batteries. Suppose the producer assumes responsibility for the entire life cycle of lead batteries. In that case, it will effectively reduce environmental pollution caused by non-compliant disposal of waste lead batteries, reduce environmental pollution, and achieve the sustainable development of lead resources. Based on the operating mechanism of the extended responsibility system for lead-acid battery producers in China, this article considers three recycling channel structures: recycling only by manufacturers (mode M), recycling by the union (mode R), and third-party recycling (mode C). This article comprehensively compares the differences between the three recycling channels. The research results show that: (1) under the EPR system, the choice of production companies is affected by the recovery rate and profit rate. (2) By comparing different recycling channel models, we found that the recovery rate of independent recycling by the manufacturer is the largest. Still, the profit rate of the manufacturer that entrusts the alliance (M) to recycle is the highest. The manufacturer can entrust to alliance or independent recycling of waste lead batteries according to the different profit rates and recovery rates. (3) From the perspective of the supply chain, independent recycling (M) by production companies or recycling (R) by the commissioned union may be the best. The choice of recycling channels for producers depends on independent recycling and commissioning alliance’ recycling costs and reuse costs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontiers in Solid Waste Recycling Related to PV Industry)

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