Recycling challenges of solar panels

If current growth trends are sustained, Ms Collier says, the volume of scrap solar panels could be huge.

"By 2030, we think we're going to have four million tonnes [of scrap] - which is still manageable - but by 2050, we could end up with more than 200 million tonnes globally."

To put that into perspective, the world currently produces a total of 400 million tonnes of plastic every year.

The reason there are so few facilities for recycling solar panels is because there has not been much waste to process and reuse until recently.

The first generation of domestic solar panels is only now coming to the end of its usable life. With those units now approaching retirement, experts say urgent action is needed.

"Now is the time to think about this," says Ms Collier.

France is already a leader among European nations when it comes to processing photovoltaic waste, says Nicolas Defrenne. His organisation, Soren, partners with ROSI and other firms, co-ordinating the decommissioning of solar panels all over France.

"The biggest one [we decommissioned] took three months," Mr Defrenne recalls.

His team at Soren has been experimenting with different ways of recycling what they collect: "We're throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks."