As the Biden administration pushes for more wind and solar power, the renewable energy industry will soon generate tons of waste. A wind turbine is recyclable, from the steel tower to the composite blades, typically 170 feet long, but most of it ends up in landfills, a total waste that will reach a cumulative weight of 2.2 million metric tons by 2050. Currently, about 90 % of end-of-life or defective solar panels end up in landfills, largely because landfilling them is much cheaper than recycling. “We’ve done a phenomenal job of making solar energy efficient and cost-effective, but we haven’t really done anything to make it circular and deal with end-of-life,” says Solarcycle CEO Suvi Sharma. The growing importance of wind and solar power to the U.S. grid and the rise of electric vehicles are key to the country's growing need to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change. At the same time, however, these emerging renewable energy industries will soon generate tons of waste as millions of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind turbines, and lithium-ion EV batteries reach the end of their lifecycle. But as the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. In anticipation of the accumulation of depleted clean energy components – and looking to proactively avoid past sins committed by irresponsible clean-up of decommissioned coal mines, oil rigs and power plants – a number of innovative startups are trying to create a sustainable and lucrative circular economy for the recovery, recycling and reuse of key components of climate technology innovations. (Bob Woods, CNBS)