Building a circular solar future with Darren Johannesen

Did you know that in 2024/2025, 3.4 million solar panels were decommissioned? Did you also know that up to 99% of solar panel material is recyclable? In this episode, we welcome Darren Johannesen, Executive General Manager of Sustainability at Smart Energy Council. We discuss the recent success of Smart Energy Council’s Solar PV Recycling and Products Stewardship Program as an example of urban mining and go on to examine how this could be rolled out on a national scale.

The Solar PV Recycling and Products Stewardship Program is one working example of how a ‘circular economy model’ would work. Darren however cautions that circular economy models are limited in light of the loss in energy and resources that are implicit with recycling. We at PGAP argue that this is all the more reason why a circular based economy must go hand in hand with a post-growth economic system. Finally, Darren shares his personal vision for a possible post-growth future and what it might look like.

Co-host Michael Bayliss is joined by Mark Allen for the introduction and outro for this episode, where they reflect on this great initiative from Smart Energy Council. They also discuss the imperative for a planned degrowth transition in a world that is drowning under ever growing piles of aggregate consumer waste. Mark and Michael also discuss some recent developments and current affairs as ‘post-growth’ and ‘collapse’ enters mainstream discourse.

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PGAP is made possible with the support of Sustainable Population Australia. Please check out SPA on their website and consider signing their position statement or even signing-up as a supporter or member.

Want to explorer deeper into the themes raises by this episode? Here are some links:

The following webinars explore the Smart Energy Council ‘Solar PV Recycling and Products Stewardship Program’ in detail:

• Solar Recycling & Material End Markets – Stewardship Webinar I Smart Energy Council
  
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• Webinar Renewable Sector Stewardship Enablers
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• Solar Panel Reuse I Stewardship Webinar Series - Smart Energy Council
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The episode refers to two past episodes of PGAP. These include: “Save our Soils: Regenerative Farming with Louis De Jaeger” and; “Working Toward a Circular Economy Future in Australia with Phil Jones”.

One of our previous guests, Kate Booth from Just Collapse, was a panellist in the ABC debate: “We’re F'ed! It’s too late to avoid civilisational collapse." Kate Booth was special guest on the PGAP episode “Planning for a Just Collapse”.

You can find more about the work of PGAP co-hosts Mark Allen HERE and Michael Bayliss HERE.

The opinions of PGAP guests, including any legacies past or present, are exclusively theirs and do not always reflect the views of PGAP or SPA.