Renewable Energy, Waste Management and the Circular Economy in the EU: Solar PV and Wind Power

Lesniewska, Feja

Abstract

Renewable energy is perceived as a primary ingredient in the world’s transition to a green, clean, low-carbon sustainable economy from a brown, dirty, high carbon unsustainable one. The global renewable energy installed capacity, especially for wind and solar, has increased rapidly in the last decade as countries have adopted laws and policies to mitigate climate change and air pollution, as well as improve energy security. As the sector matures the focus on renewable energy needs to turn to consider system infrastructure design to ensure that the take-make-dispose rationale that contributed to the unsustainable fossil fuel economy is not perpetuated under the guise of a green low-carbon economy. The EU is a leader in installed solar PV and wind energy capacity. It also has a well-established waste management legal framework that is based on hierarchy and producer responsibility principles. This chapter considers how the EU is responding to the future challenges that waste management from end of life cycle solar PV panels and wind turbines poses. It questions whether steps taken to date are in line with the more advanced agenda laid out in the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan (2015) which calls for a paradigm shift in developing law and policy that pursues holistic sustainability goals in relation to resource management throughout the value-supply chain.

Citation

Lesniewska, F. (2017). Renewable Energy, Waste Management and the Circular Economy in the EU: Solar PV and Wind Power. In R. Leal-Arcas, J. Monnet, & J. Wouters (Eds.), Research Handbook on EU Energy Law and Policy. Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786431059

• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 24, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 2, 2117
• Series Title: Research Handbooks in European Law
• Book Title: Research Handbook on EU Energy Law and Policy
• ISBN: 9781786431042
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786431059
• Publisher URL: http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/research-handbook-on-eu-energy-law-and-policy