Environment |

What happens to old EV batteries, solar panels and wind turbines?

Their sleek curves offer the first clue that the half dozen benches scattered around downtown Tehachapi aren’t run-of-the-mill spots for the public to sit.

Plaques on those benches say, “I’m Gus made from a wind turbine blade.” And QR code links explain that Gus is a line of outdoor furniture offered by Canvus, an Ohio-based company that diverts massive blades from decommissioned windmills away from landfills and upcycles them into picnic tables, swings, fountains and other forms of functional art.

Visitors can admire the Colorado River from Canvus benches in Bullhead City, Ariz., too. And the trend is coming soon to Southern California, per Canvus spokesman Parker Kowalski, with eight turbine blade projects headed to Palm Desert and more in the works for Rialto, Los Alamitos, Fillmore, Montclair and Covina.

Canvus’ furniture illustrates a unique solution to a growing problem: As we transition to a green economy, we’re generating waste that, if we aren’t careful, isn’t so green.

While old wind turbine blades are problematic because they’re so large and durable, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries can contain hazardous materials. Some of those materials are also valuable, which presents an opportunity to recover and reuse them when panels and batteries are damaged or replaced by newer models. But it also means special handling is mandated to ensure the materials don’t pose health or safety risks.

Such risks have been weaponized by some who stand to benefit economically or politically from sticking with fossil fuels. Social media is rife with misinformation about the impact of manufacturing and retiring EV batteries, solar panels and turbine blades, with some posts claiming the risks outweigh the good green technology offers — a myth that experts who’ve spent years comparing climate impacts of various alternatives dismiss outright.

“Electric vehicles are much better than gasoline, even when taking into account the full life cycle,” said Jessica Dunn, a senior analyst focused on transportation at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We need to eliminate transportation emissions by rapidly electrifying, and we have to take this opportunity to also do it responsibly.”

To make that happen, there are some serious challenges to overcome.

For example, it’s estimated about 10% of solar panels currently get recycled, since few facilities can take them and it’s still cheaper to drop them at a dump. And that problem could grow in coming years, as the first generation of mainstream rooftop solar, wind turbines and EVs is supplanted by newer technology.

Still, experts say there’s good news on these fronts, too, with some Southern California companies offering innovative solutions to repurpose and recycle green tech waste.

To quickly scale up these solutions and ensure they’re cost effective, the Biden administration has been directing billions of dollars from federal funding packages to these sectors.

California also is looking to follow in the footsteps of places like New Jersey, which now mandates recycling some green electronic waste, and European countries with “producer responsibility” programs that require manufacturers to establish end-of-life pathways for their products. And when consumers buy these products, there’s typically a fee built into the purchase price that helps pay for responsible disposal.

This is not a new concept for California, which has stewardship programs in place for products like paint, mattresses and pharmaceuticals. And Dunn said the fact that we’re even having disposal conversations shows we’ve learned some lessons after allowing fossil fuel companies to leave taxpayers on the hook for abandoned oil wells and decommissioned power plants.

Dealing with old electrical equipment also isn’t a crisis close to on par with the urgent need to slow climate change by switching to an electrified economy, said Meg Slattery, a PhD candidate at UC Davis who’s been studying battery recycling. While those are the very concerns that drew her to this field, Slattery said she’s been pleasantly surprised to learn how much effort is already being made toward green waste recycling.

“In some sense we’re kind of trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist yet,” she said. “Which I think is great, for the most part, because it would be better if we learned how to be proactive about these kinds of things.”

It’s also important to remember that the systems being displaced carry waste risk, Slattery noted. A recent study from the American Lung Association, for example, predicts we could save 89,000 lives and $978 billion in health care costs by 2050 if no new gas-powered vehicles were sold in the United States starting in 2035.

“We have a better solution,” Dunn said. “It might not be the perfect solution yet, but we’re trying to get there.”

Read on to learn more about the unique challenges and opportunities around creating responsible end-of-life plans for EV batteries, solar panels and wind turbines.

Recycling and ‘second life’ options keep retired EV batteries out of landfills

Here’s what happens to solar panels when they’re retired

Old wind turbine blades get new spin, as businesses turn problem into opportunity