Ishizaka Inc. opens new “Photovoltaic Recycling Plant” in Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture

Ishizaka Inc. (Headquarters: Miyoshi-machi, Saitama Prefecture; President: Noriko Ishizaka) has established a new “Photovoltaic Recycling Plant” in Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture, and will begin accepting used solar panels on Monday, June 2, 2025.

As Japan moves toward carbon neutrality by 2050, various renewable energy sources are being adopted. Solar power generation facilities, in particular, have rapidly increased in Japan since the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) system (Note 1) in 2012. Meanwhile, a large amount of used solar panels are expected to be discarded as they reach the end of their useful life in the late 2030s, creating an urgent need to address this and promote recycling

In response to this, Ishizaka Inc. has decided to recycle solar panels to contribute to the realization of a “circular economy.” This “Photovoltaic Recycling Plant” will be Ishizaka Inc.’s second facility for recycling, and the first plant to recycle used solar panels, which currently operates an intermediate processing business focused on mixed construction waste.

Specifically, the Hot Knife Separation Method® (Note 2) uses a knife-like blade heated to approximately 300°C to peel the surface glass of a solar power module from the cell sheet and other components. The separated panels, including aluminum frame, metal, cell sheet, and glass, are then recycled as raw materials.

Noriko Ishizaka stated, “As the global shift to renewable energy progresses, solar panels are said to have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years, and the large number of panels that became popular in the 2010s will reach the end of their lifespan in 2030. Instead of crushing and landfilling, we want to introduce material separation and recovery technology to create new value in resource recycling and practice technological development and improvement.”

Aiming to realize a “society where waste does not become waste,” we have continued to explore new technologies to minimize industrial waste landfilling. With this new initiative, we will promote the recycling of solar panels that have reached the end of their useful life, as well as those generated during house demolition, and work toward realizing a society in which all surface resources are recycled, under our vision of “Zero Waste Design.”

◆ Overview of the “Photovoltaic Recycling Plant”
Name: Ishizaka Inc. “Photovoltaic Recycling Plant”
Location: 4-11-1 Sayamadai, Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture
Area: Site area 1,917 m2, of which building area 571 m2
Start of acceptance: Monday, June 2, 2025
Accepted items: Used solar panel
equipment Overview:
(1) Type of equipment and processing capacity: 8.88 t/day
(2) Processing method: Dismantling and separation, cutting and separation
(3) Equipment operating hours: 8 hours/day
(4) Types of industrial waste that can be processed:
1) Waste plastics
2) Scrap metal
3) Scrap glass, scrap concrete (excluding rubble), and scrap ceramics
(all limited to used solar panels)

<Reference>
1) Estimated amount of solar panel emissions

Source: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, “Resource Recycling Economy Subcommittee, Solar Power Generation Equipment Recycling Working Group, Reference Material on the Form of a Recycling System for Solar Power Generation Equipment” 

② Hot Knife Separation Method® 

Source: Created by Ishizaka Sangyo based on the explanatory diagram on the NPC Corporation website (Note 1) FIT system: A system in which the government promises that electric power companies will purchase electricity generated from renewable energy sources at a set price for a set period of time 
(Note 2) Hot Knife Separation Method® : A registered trademark of NPC Corporation