China-based solar product manufacturer JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., has announced that it has joined PV CYCLE“s European association for voluntary take-back and recycling of photovoltaic modules. Ji…
China-based solar product manufacturer JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., has announced that it has joined PV CYCLE“s European association for voluntary take-back and recycling of photovoltaic modules. JinkoSolar therefore joins more than 70 companies in an international effort to establish a network of solar module collection points by 2015. PV CYCLE is currently setting up collection points across Europe where installers and citizens will be able to dispose of worn-out modules, which will be separated into crystalline and thin-film modules and taken to a PV CYCLE recycling centre. At the centre, they will be sorted as per product number and manufacturer and then weighed before being disassembled into their main components and recycled. The recycling programme is financed by the member companies. “Recycling end-of-life modules makes PV technology more sustainable, and is a key element of our strategy to match our high quality products and services with a high level of environmental awareness and social responsibility,” noted JinkoSolar“s CEO Kangping Chen. “Such recycling not only helps the environment by reducing waste, but also helps reduce energy requirements and costs associated with producing new modules. We are looking forward to collaborating with the PV CYCLE association and advancing our recycling initiative as we work towards a greener tomorrow. ” PV CYCLE, founded in 2007, aims to provide clean and renewable energy as well as to apply the principle of extended producer responsibility, and thereby make the photovoltaic industry “double green”. PV CYCLE currently represents 85% of the European photovoltaic market, with members being European manufacturers or importers of photovoltaic modules.