Comstock Metals receives permit for solar panel recycling

Comstock Metals Corp., headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada, has received conditional approval from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection-Bureau of Sustainable Materials Management (NDEP-BSMM) for the processing of end-of-life solar panels and photovoltaics in its new material recovery facility (MRF) in Silver Springs, Nevada.

Comstock Metals now has received all the required permits to complete the installation of the process equipment and to test, commission and start up the MRF. The company says the facility includes technologies for efficiently crushing, conditioning, extracting and recycling metal concentrates from photovoltaics. In addition, the company also has begun accepting receipt of materials for processing and is securing supplier commitments on an ongoing basis.

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“The world remains focused on the production of sustainable energy generation and storage technologies to reduce reliance on fossil fuels," Comstock Metals says in a news release. "While resource scarcity and material supply are the main drivers presented when evaluating metal recycling options, what is often missed is that end-of-life solutions for decommissioned solar panels causes significant pollution if simply landfilled with no recoveries.”

Fortunato Villamagna, president of Comstock Metals, says he appreciates the BSMM’s efforts in issuing the final permit and enabling the first Nevada-based, zero-landfill, end-of-life solar panel solution serving a broad region.

“We have begun receiving waste panels into our facility and have commenced commissioning activities,” he says. “We are seeing larger than initially expected customer inquiries as waste panels are becoming rapidly available from many different sources and accelerating our ramp-up efforts.”

The company says most of the United States’ solar panels have been deployed in the southwestern part of the country, primarily California, Arizona and Nevada, with decommissioning of these panels occurring now and accelerating supply and increasing the demand for environmentally responsible end-of-life solutions. Comstock Metals claims it has positioned itself to ensure the safe deconstruction and productive reuse of these important materials.

Comstock Metals is expanding its existing revenue generating supply commitments and now has begun the design and site selection for its first “industry-scale” production facility while also accelerating the assessment of additional storage and processing sites.

“We have quickly established a leadership position in this readily available and rapidly growing photovoltaic market,” Comstock Executive Chairman and CEO Corrado De Gasperis says. “Our metals team is already assessing additional sites as we look to capitalize on our lead in this rapidly growing solar market. Comstock Metals is the leading zero-landfill, end-of-life solution for solar panels.”