Solar Module Waste and Recycling Roadmap by 2047

REPORT

How Big is the Solar Module Recycling Industry in India?

Sizing the Market, Investment, and Emission Reduction Opportunity

06 November, 2025 | Circular Economy, Energy Transitions

Akanksha Tyagi, Prashant Badal and Ajinkya Kale

Suggested citation: Tyagi, Akanksha, Prashant Badal and Ajinkya Kale. 2025. How Big is the Solar Module Recycling Industry in India? Sizing the Market, Investment, and Emission Reduction Opportunity. New Delhi: Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

Download Study

Download Press Release

Download Annexure

Overview

Solar module recycling can advance India’s energy transition by reducing dependence on imported critical minerals and strengthening domestic manufacturing. However, the module recycling industry remains nascent, hindered by weak regulations, inefficient technologies, and limited markets for recovered materials. A robust database of key information is vital to guide industry and policy decisions in developing a domestic recycling ecosystem.

This study provides estimates on India’s solar module waste by 2047, module recycling market opportunity, required investments to set up the recycling infrastructure, virgin material demand met by module recycling, and emissions reduction. It also provides suggestions on appropriate business models to scale the recycling industry.

Key Highlights

India is estimated to generate around 11,221 kilo tonnes (kt) of solar waste by 2047. 92 per cent of this waste would be generated due to crystalline silicon modules, while the remaining 8 per cent would be due to cadmium telluride thin-film modules.
India would need 299 recycling facilities by 2047, with individual processing capacity of 3,600 tonnes per annum to manage this waste. The capital investment required is estimated to be INR 4,274 crore for setting up these facilities.
In 2047, 656 kt of materials can be recovered from solar waste, resulting in a market opportunity of INR 3,709 crore. This includes critical minerals such as silicon, copper, cadmium, and tellurium.
From 2026-47, solar module recycling can meet 38 per cent of the overall material demand, with silicon being the highest at 60 per cent.
By 2047, reduced reliance on virgin materials could help India avoid 37 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

HAVE A QUERY?

Ajinkya Kale

Programme Associate

ajinkya.kale@ceew.in

Solar module recycling in India presents an INR 3,709 crore market opportunity in 2047, but will require significant capital investment to build the necessary infrastructure. Our findings offer a clear signal to policymakers, private investors, and solar producers to act now — by planning infrastructure, developing workable business models, mobilising finance, and integrating recycling into India’s clean energy supply chain.

Executive summary

India’s solar sector currently faces two major problems— growing waste, and the fact that domestic manufacturing is vulnerable to geopolitical risks. To manage these issues, the country needs to transition to a circular solar industry. The biggest roadblock to this is that India currently lacks a strong domestic solar module recycling industry. There is an urgent need for targeted interventions to establish and scale this industry.

To support this planning, we have sized India’s solar module recycling capacity and investment requirement by 2047, and market opportunity in 2047. We also estimate the reduction in demand for virgin materials by recycling, and the corresponding emission reductions. We use this evidence to recommend immediate priorities for policymakers, manufacturers, and recyclers to create a robust solar module recycling industry in India.

First, we estimate India’s solar waste by 2047 using our in-house waste estimation model (MNRE and CEEW 2024). The capacity installations used for this waste estimation are based on the actual annual installations until 2024, and the projected annual additions until 2047, as per the growth rates from our earlier study (Das et al 2025). According to this trajectory India’s cumulative solar capacity reaches 534 GW by 2047. Based on projected waste, we estimate the number of recycling facilities and the investment needed to support this infrastructure for both crystalline silicon and thin-film modules. The market opportunity is estimated based on the recovery rates and resale values for different materials reported in literature. The emissions savings are estimated using a standard lifecycle analysis approach using India-specific emission factors for different parameters.

Key findings

By 2047, India is estimated to generate around 11,221 kilo tonnes (kt) of solar waste. Of this, about 92 per cent would be the waste due to crystalline silicon (c-Si) modules, while the remaining would be due to cadmium telluride thin-film modules.
To manage this waste, India will require 299 solar PV recycling facilities by 2047, each with a processing capacity of 3,600 tonnes per annum (TPA). Of these, 270 facilities will be needed to manage waste from c-Si modules and the remaining 29 facilities will be needed to manage thin-film module waste. To meet this infrastructure requirement, India will require an estimated capital investment of INR 4,274 crore.
Solar module recycling offers an INR 3,709 crore market opportunity in 2047.
India’s solar PV waste stream is expected to yield around 656 kt of recoverable materials in 2047. It includes critical minerals like silicon, copper, cadmium and tellurium, along with the precious metal silver, and others such as aluminium and glass. Recovery of these materials from discarded modules can help reduce their demand from virgin sources. Specifically, from 2026-47, recycling can meet 38 per cent of the overall material demand, with silicon being the highest at 60 per cent.
By substituting virgin materials with these recovered materials in solar module manufacturing, India could avoid emissions of 37 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents by 2047.
Among the prevalent business models for recycling solar waste, the recycler-owned model would be best suited for the Indian market.

Key recommendations

Policymakers must coordinate their efforts to provide clear and ambitious signals with long-term certainty to the solar industry, to drive investments into different circular economy strategies. This includes:
- Introduction of EPR targets for the solar sector, led by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC);
- Revision of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 to increase responsibility on bulk consumers (solar project developers), led by the MoEF&CC; and
- Have a dedicated circular solar taskforce to create the ecosystem that advances the government and private sector action on this topic led by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in collaboration with other ministries, departments, and industry associations
The MNRE should create a centralised inventory system for the solar sector, to support planning for waste management infrastructure. It should include granular (at least to the district level) information on installed solar capacity (across deployment modes) and manufacturing facilities, with details on capacity (installed or manufactured), module technology and composition, commissioning date, and so on. This information will help recyclers assess waste-hotspots to strategically bring up the necessary infrastructure, optimising the collection costs, recycling capacities and so on.
E-waste recyclers should leverage existing infrastructure and skills for solar module recycling, to expedite scaling of waste management infrastructure. These machineries, available with other e-waste and battery recyclers, can be used for dismantling operations at decentralised units, and the remaining valuable scrap can be processed at a few centralised locations. At the same time, they should also focus on designing efficient recycling processes to improve the recovery rates and purity grades of recovered materials.

FAQs

Why is developing a solar module recycling ecosystem critical for India?

Establishing a solar module recycling ecosystem is essential to manage rising solar waste, recover valuable materials, and reduce import dependence. It can create economic and social opportunities, support domestic solar manufacturing, lower carbon emissions, and ensure resource security, making it a key enabler of India’s clean energy transition and circular economy goals.
What are the main challenges facing the module recycling industry?

The module recycling industry faces key challenges, including the absence of clear regulatory mandates, a lack of granular spatial data on solar capacity deployment and manufacturing to identify waste hotspots, limited efficiency and scalability of current recycling technologies, and weak domestic markets for recovered materials. These barriers restrict commercial viability and hinder large-scale adoption in India.
What will drive the solar module recycling market growth in the coming decade?

Market growth will be driven by the rising volume of end-of-life solar modules, introducing collection, recycling and recovery targets under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for solar waste, improving recycling technologies, and increasing demand for recovered materials in domestic manufacturing. Policy incentives and private sector investments will further support industry expansion and commercial viability.
What business models currently exist for solar module recycling?

Existing business models for solar module recycling can be categorised into three categories based on their operational models, financial implications, and potential for scalability. These include the integrated recycling model, the recycler-owned model, and the third-party/waste management company model.