The Legislative Decree 4 March 2014, n. 49 – entered into force on the 12th of April 2014 – has enacted the European Directive 2012/19/EU and has introduced different financing methods for the WEEE (Waste of electric and electronic equipment or e-waste) waste management. The Legislative Decree distinguishes between “new” and “old” waste, and between “domestic origin” and “professional origin” of the waste. Photovoltaic panels’ Producers must obey to their duties individually or collectively through special non-profit Consortiums, approved from the Ministry for Environment and Territory. Both compliance methods (individual and collective) must prove to have an ISO 9011:2008 or 14000, an OHASAS 18001 or an equivalent Certification. Producers that do not obey to their duties must be punished – retroactively – in proportion to the number of photovoltaic panels sold starting from the entrance into force of the Legislative Decree and for all the non-fulfillment period.
As far as the photovoltaic panels is concerned, we can distinguish between the following:
1) OLD WEEE, BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC
Old waste are those deriving from photovoltaic panels sold before the 12th of April 2014.
– In case of domestic WEEE – photovoltaic panels installed on plants with a nominal power up to 10 kW (art. 4, paragraph 1, letter “l” of the Legislative Decree) – the producer active in the market in the same year in which the corresponding costs occurs is responsible, in proportion to the correspondent market share, which is calculated on the weight of the panels sold in the corresponding solar year.
– In case of professional WEEE – photovoltaic panels installed on plants with a nominal power greater than 10 kW (art. 4, paragraph 1, letter “m” of the Legislative Decree) – and of supply of new electric and electronic devices in substitution of an equivalent product, the producer is responsible, in all the other cases it is the holder.
2) NEW WEEE, BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND DOMESTIC
New waste are those deriving from photovoltaic panels sold after the 12th of April 2014.
– In case of domestic WEEE the producer active in the market in the same year in which the corresponding costs occurs is responsible.
– In case ofprofessional WEEE the producer is responsible for every panel sold in every solar year (starting from the 12th of April 2014).
3) PLANTS THAT BENEFIT FROM THE IV (Ministerial Decree 05/05/2011) and V (Ministerial Decree 05/07/2012) FEED-IN TARIFFS
Their regulation follows necessarily the one for old waste, but with the clarification that – as stated in the mentioned Ministerial Decrees that enacted the feed-in tariffs – starting from the fist July 2012 the feed-in tariffs were granted only if the photovoltaic panels were produced by a company joining a Consortium for waste disposal, recovery and recycling (art. 7, paragraph 5, Ministerial Decree 05/07/2012). Producers of photovoltaic panels should have proved their participation by sending to the GSE (Gestore dei Servizi Elettrici, the Supervisor for the Electric Services) the “joining certificate” to a Consortium that grants the waste disposal, recovery and recycling of photovoltaic panels.
Therefore we can deduce that, even if the Legislative Decree n. 49/2014 does not mention it directly, the owners of plants empowered starting from the first of April 2012 and to which was grated the feed-in tariff, are exempted from every obligation, as the Consortium to which they are part assumes directly all the waste disposal, recovery and recycling obligations.
4) FOR PLANTS EMPOWERED DURING THE I, II, III FEED-IN TARIFF
These plants were empowered before the first of July 2012 that is before the waste management obligations were assumed by the Consortiums. The legislator adopted a precautionary method: the manager of the implant must pay a deposit equal to a sum deducted from the feed-in tariffs by the GSE. The exact amount of the deposit will be determined based on the medium costs for disposal, recovery and recycling that the producers afford for joining a Consortium. Within a year from the enforcement of the Legislative Decree n. 49/2014 the GSE is required to define the calculation method for the deposit and the corresponding operational procedures. The deposit will be reimbursed when the plants will no longer be used, but only if the holder of the panels (or the manager of the implant) obeys to the recycling obligations by bringing the panels in one of the Municipal recovery centers or to the initial seller. For professional plants the deposit will not be reimbursed, but it will be used for the waste management, the GSE will choose and pay a Consortium in order to dispose, recover and recycle the panels.
5) INTEGRATED PLANTS WITH INNOVATIVE CHARACTERISTICS AND CONCENTRATED PLANTS
This plants, although empowered after the first July 2012, have been exempted from joining a Consortium. This waste is now – with the enactment of Legislative Decree n. 49/2014 – to be considered WEEE and should therefore follow the same rules as for the feed-in tariffs plants, but the Legislative Decree does not explicitly mention this kind of plants.
The costs for the waste management can be divided into logistic/administrative costs (subjective) and procedural costs (objective, depending from consolidated processes with no great improvement possibilities). Without considering general costs (administrative, database and similar ones), the procedural costs should be 3.5 €/each panel, with differences based on the type and geographical position of the panel. If we add the logistic and administrative costs we arrive at maximum 6 or 7 €/each panel. If we indicate the costs in €/kg the cost should be 250 €/ton of material to be dismissed. An implant up to 3 kWp is normally formed by 15 photovoltaic panels which has a medium weight of 18 kg, the total weight will be 270 kg = 0.27 Ton, therefore the cost for the waste management of an implant up to 3 kWp will be around 70 €.