Solar, wind, and battery technologies have, and will continue to be, front and center of the renewable energy and clean technology transition. Entities in the renewable energy and clean technology space should be closely following legal developments concerning the end-of-life management of these technologies, particularly as their end-of-life approaches and federal and state requirements evolve.
RCRA Requirements for Solar Panel and Lithium-Ion Battery Waste
Solar panel waste may constitute hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), thus subjecting it to RCRA’s “cradle-to-grave” regulations. The most common reason that some solar panels may constitute RCRA hazardous waste is that they meet the characteristic of toxicity due to the leaching of heavy metals like cadmium and lead at such concentrations that the panels fail the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. (See 40 C.F.R. § 261.24.) Lithium-ion batteries are also likely to be hazardous waste under RCRA due to their ignitability and reactivity. (See id. §§ 261.21, 261.23; EPA Memo, May, 24, 2023.) Lithium-ion batteries that constitute RCRA hazardous waste are subject to the universal waste regulations that apply to batteries generally. (40 C.F.R. § 273.2.) The universal waste regulations provide a streamlined set of requirements under RCRA for generators and other handlers of specific types of common hazardous wastes.
In October 2023, the U.S. EPA announced that it’s proposing to add hazardous waste solar panels and specific regulations concerning lithium batteries to the universal waste regulations, with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking expected in June 2025. According to the EPA, the draft requirements are expected to promote the collection and recycling of solar panels and encourage the development of municipal and commercial programs to reduce the quantity of these wastes going to municipal solid waste landfills. The EPA further explains that the universal waste standards for lithium batteries would benefit those generating and managing waste lithium batteries by improving the safety standards and reducing fires from mismanaged end-of-life lithium batteries, while continuing to promote recycling.
Hazardous waste solar panels and lithium-ion batteries that are recycled in states that have adopted the 2015 or 2018 Definition of Solid Waste Rule may be able to use the regulatory exclusions available under RCRA, including the transfer-based exclusion at 40 C.F.R. § 261.4(a)(24). Under this exclusion, “hazardous secondary material” that is generated and then transferred to another person for the purpose of reclamation is not a solid waste, provided that certain regulatory requirements are satisfied. Among other requirements, the waste cannot be “speculatively accumulated,” and the reclamation of the material must be legitimate.
Federal Extended Producer Responsibility Framework for Batteries
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, requires the EPA to develop battery collection best practices and battery labeling guidelines. (42 U.S.C. § 6966c.) After conducting outreach efforts to learn more about the current state of battery recycling and labeling efforts around the United States in June and July 2022, the EPA is developing a national battery Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework and a report to Congress on this issue.
State Requirements for End-of-Life Management of Solar Modules
States are also taking actions to address the end-of-life management of solar modules. For example, some states, like California and Hawaii (see Chpt. 11-273.1, HAR, available here), have classified hazardous waste solar modules as universal waste under their state universal waste programs.
Washington has an EPR law for solar panels. (See RCW 70A.510.010.) Beginning July 1, 2025, solar panels may not be sold in Washington unless the manufacturer of those panels has a “stewardship plan” approved by the Washington Department of Ecology. The stewardship plan must, among other requirements, provide for the takeback of photovoltaic modules, identify how relevant stakeholders will receive information on how to properly dismantle, transport, and treat end-of-life photovoltaic modules, establish reuse and recycling performance goals, and describe how manufactures will finance the system. According to the Department, some manufacturers have chosen not to sell solar panels in Washington rather than participate in a takeback program. To avoid disruption to the supply and cost of panels available for deployment in Washington, the Department is requesting a change to several dates in the law, resulting in a later program start date.
State Requirements for End-of-Life Management of Batteries
States are also taking actions to address the end-of-life management of batteries. For example, most recently, on May 22, 2025, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed the Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Act, which establishes a producer-funded battery stewardship program for “portable” and “medium format” batteries sold in Nebraska. However, covered batteries do not include batteries used to power motor vehicles. On May 21, 2025, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Battery Stewardship Act, imposing similar requirements on producers of covered batteries in Colorado.
New Jersey’s Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Management Act, on the other hand, specifically targets electric vehicle batteries by banning the disposal of “propulsion batteries” in New Jersey landfills after January 8, 2027, and holding propulsion battery producers responsible for the end-of-life management of their batteries. Propulsion battery is defined as “an electrical energy storage device, consisting of one or more individual battery modules or battery cells, which are used to supply power to propel an electric or hybrid road vehicle.” Also, New Hampshire House Bill 1386, signed by former Governor Sununu on August 27, 2024, prohibits the disposal of wet-cell batteries and lithium-ion batteries in any solid waste landfill facility or incinerator in New Hampshire, effective July 1, 2025.
State Requirements for End-of-Life Management of Wind Turbines
States are also taking actions to address the end-of-life management of wind turbines. For example, on January 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, approved an amendment to Wyoming’s regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, facilitating the disposal of inert decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers as backfill in end walls or the final pit voids in surface coal mining operations. This was in response to Wyoming House Bill 0129 and concerns related to the large volume of decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers in Wyoming and a lack of scalable recycling methods to facilitate their disposal.
Texas House Bill 3228, sent to Governor Greg Abbott on May 26, 2025, would require provisions in wind and solar lease agreements to provide that the grantee is responsible for collecting and reusing or recycling, or shipping for reuse of recycling, all components of the facility practically capable of being reused or recycled, including the wind turbine blades or photovoltaic modules, and disposing of all facility components not practically capable of being reused or recycled. The bill, if signed, would take effect on September 1, 2025.
The above are just illustrative examples of legal developments concerning the end-of-life management of solar, wind, and battery technologies. In many cases, adequate recycling infrastructure may not be available, or recycling may be costly, making it challenging to navigate evolving recyclability requirements. We will continue to closely follow this issue and provide timely updates on the Corporate Environmental Lawyer.
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