Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to develop recycling technologies for end-of-life wind turbine blades and solar panels.

This Government is committed to transition to a circular economy. We are developing a Circular Economy Strategy for England including a series of road maps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis, supporting Government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower.

In our manifesto we also committed to forcing fly-tippers and vandals to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviours to ensure we can all take pride in our communities.

With regard to solar panels, they are electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). This is regulated to reduce the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) incinerated or sent to landfill sites. The WEEE Regulations 2013 require the producers of electrical equipment, including solar panels, to take financial responsibility for products they place on the market when they become waste.