Clean energy could create millions of tons of waste in India. Some are working to avoid that

On the edges of a dense forest in southern India, six women in a small garage are busy stitching cloth bags, pants, hospital gowns and office uniforms with automated sewing machines.

About four years ago, power cuts constantly interrupted their work. Heavy rain disrupted transmission lines and air conditioners pumping in extreme heat exhausted the grid. But now a small black box in a corner of the garage, not much larger than an office printer, keeps their operations running. The battery pack, made from used electric vehicle batteries, keeps their sewing machines and lights on even when the main power is off.

"This battery is a godsend for us," said H. Gauri, one of the women. "Before the battery came, we'd have to stitch manually when there was no electricity which is exhausting. That is not a concern anymore and we're able to finish all our orders on time."

While the group is successful, initiatives like it in India are still few and far between. As the country gets more electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, all aimed at reducing the country's dependency on planet-warming fossil fuels, energy experts say that India will need to find ways to repurpose the batteries, panels and blades at the end of their lifespans or risk creating millions of tons of waste. If the country comes up with a comprehensive strategy to recycle components, it would both reduce waste and lead to fewer imports of the critical minerals needed for clean power in the future.

Currently, many panels, batteries and other clean energy parts end up in landfills. But others are processed by unlicensed waste recyclers, and some newer businesses and organizations are coming up with ways to recycle the valuable components.

Old EV car batteries can power rural livelihoods

The six tailors in Kenchanahalli say their lives have completely changed since the battery smoothed over power cuts.

Gauri, 32, said the steady income from the tailoring work has helped build a new home for her and her three children. She said it has also brought her more independence.

"Earlier, my husband was not happy about me working long hours or going to nearby towns to get tailoring orders," she said. "However, after seeing how much I was earning, he has taken a step back. It's not only me, this job has changed everything for all the women in this room."

The lithium-ion batteries can provide backup power for up to six hours. They were provided by battery refurbishing and energy storage company Nunam and set up at the campus of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, a nongovernmental organization that works to help poor and Indigenous communities in remote regions of Karnataka.

These relatively small electricity needs are perfect ways to reuse electric vehicle batteries, said Prithvi Raj Narendra, an engineer at Nunam. "The way EVs use these batteries is like asking it to run. Using it to power small machines and streetlights is like asking it to walk," he said.

In the four years since the tailoring operation was set up, Nunam's orders have exponentially increased. Their two dozen employees in Bengaluru's electronic city neighborhood are busier than ever designing and packaging battery packs from used EV batteries from cars and three-wheelers.

Narendra said the company aims to produce one gigawatt-hour of power—enough to power one million homes for a year—by the end of this decade for homes and small businesses across India, especially those without consistent sources of electricity.

With a surge in solar, planning can minimize waste

India is the world's most populous nation and among the biggest emitters of planet-warming gases. Like the rest of the world, a major part of transitioning away from dirty fossil fuels for electricity comes in the form of solar panels.

Solar panels typically last between 20 and 30 years. Some estimates say that 100 kilotons of solar power-related waste is already produced every year in India and this number could grow to 340 kilotons by 2030.

"The issue is not very large right now, but it will become so as the installed base of solar panels becomes larger," said Adarsh Das, who's worked in India's solar power sector for the past 30 years.

The country has set an ambitious target of producing 500 gigawatts of clean power by the end of this decade and is also aiming to become a global hub for manufacturing clean power components like solar cells, panels and wind turbines.

The Indian government has included solar, wind and EV components in its electronic waste regulations, and has called for producers to recycle components, but there's little clarity about how they should do that.

U.S.-based renewable energy company First Solar owns a solar manufacturing site in Chennai, India, and has already included solar panel recycling in their business model. In the future, new panels will be made from old recycled components.

Sujoy Ghosh, their managing director for India, said the government's waste regulations show it's thinking in the right direction, but the "devil is in the details." Rules around how solar panels should be recycled, and how companies can profit from setting up recycling facilities, are needed, he said.

Anjali Taneja, a senior policy specialist at the Indian think-tank Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, thinks recycling can definitely be profitable for Indian solar producers. But without a clear recycling plan, Taneja worries that the country "could become one of the largest waste generators."

Creating a national effort to recycle raw materials

India currently imports over 95% of lithium-ion batteries as well as large amounts of nickel, cobalt and other rare earth minerals that are needed for clean power and EV batteries, government reports say. Experts estimate that nearly 90% of those materials can be recovered to make new solar power panels, batteries and wind turbines within India.

The ability to recycle critical minerals is "a huge opportunity for India," said Akansha Tyagi of the New Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water. "Many strategies can be put in place to design products better, use them better over their lifetime, repair them before you recycle and eventually responsibly recycle."

The next step, Tyagi said, is to create a comprehensive policy for creating a circular economy—an economic model that aims to maximize the use of anything that is manufactured and create as little waste as possible.

Industry stakeholders agree.

Deepali Sinha Khetriwal, who runs a coworking space for electronic waste recyclers just outside New Delhi, said there is tremendous potential for creating jobs in the clean energy sector if recycling is taken up more seriously.

"You need skilled and semi-skilled people," she said. "The resource recovery industry is such a great job creator."

Khetriwal added that her hope is to see more recyclers like her across the country, creating national momentum for clean energy recycling.

"While our setup is still small, what we're trying to do can be replicated," she said. "We're excited about what the future holds if as a country we plan ahead."