Japan Proposes 50-Tonne Trigger for Solar Panel Disposal Plans

• Japan's METI and environment ministry proposed on Oct. 30 that disposals of 50 t or more of business-use panels need an advance plan.
• The draft threshold would catch most plants of 1 MW or more and no site of 600 kW or less.
• The rules are due around spring 2027, and the recycling law should take effect around autumn or winter 2027.

Japan's industry and environment ministries proposed on Oct. 30 that owners disposing of 50 tonnes or more of business-use solar panels at once file a plan in advance. The figure is a draft for a cabinet order under the country's new recycling law, not a final rule.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of the Environment put it to a joint expert panel. It was the panel's first meeting, the council materials show. The law was enacted on May 29 and promulgated on June 5. Owners who skip the filing could face government recommendations and orders.

The line would catch most solar plants of 1 MW or more. A 40-tonne threshold would also have pulled in 1,263 sites of 600 kW or less. At 50 tonnes, none qualify.

Panels of 3.7 kg or more would count. Silicon modules, about 95% of the market, are in, along with CIS/CIGS and cadmium telluride. Organic cells, including perovskites, stay out because no recycling route exists yet.

The proposal in numbers

• 50 tonnes of business-use panels per disposal would trigger the duty to file a plan.
• 94.9% of 6,267 module models used in Japan weigh 50 tonnes or more per MW.
• 7,398 owners at most would have to file, 970 fewer than under a 40-tonne line (list.solar calculation).
• 38.3% of panel waste expected in 2027-2050, by weight, would come from owners above the threshold.
• 26% of the expected peak waste is what Japan's 87 dedicated recyclers can handle today, based on environment ministry data (list.solar calculation).

That ministry expects panel waste to rise from the late 2030s to as much as about 500,000 tonnes a year. Recycling capacity stood near 130,000 tonnes a year in November 2025. Japan had 92,211 MW of solar PV at the end of 2025, IRENA data show.

To stop owners from splitting jobs, disposals at one plant tied to the same shutdown or repowering would be added together. One year is suggested as the window.

The panel meets again in mid-November and early December on recycler standards and owner rules. A public consultation should run from about December to March. The orders are due around spring 2027 and the law around autumn or winter 2027, a schedule the ministries said may change.