Australia recovers 100% of silver from solar waste as tonnes of panels pile up by 2050

Australia could be sitting on a hidden stockpile of hundreds of tonnes of silver as millions of solar panels approach the end of their working lives. More than one million tonnes of waste solar panels are expected across the country by 2050, containing an estimated 300–500 tonnes of silver. Much of that valuable metal is currently left behind when panels are discarded. Now, researchers at the University of Newcastle have demonstrated a continuous flotation process that recovered almost 100 per cent of silver from end-of-life solar-cell material. The breakthrough could help make solar-panel recycling more commercially viable while keeping valuable resources out of landfill.Australia expects 1 million tonnes of solar waste by 2050The scale of Australia’s future solar-panel waste is central to the problem. According to the University of Newcastle, more than one million tonnes of waste panels are expected in Australia by 2050, with those panels estimated to contain 300–500 tonnes of silver.That creates a situation in which a large quantity of a valuable metal could end up being treated as waste. The university notes that glass and aluminium are already routinely recovered from discarde...