Have you wondered what happens to the giant windmills and the solar panels you can find some places when they're replaced?
There already is an industry in Texas that specializes in recycling the materials used in solar and wind power machinery, and those materials can contain valuable minerals and rare earth components that can be valuable, but recycling business have sometimes been poorly run and have gone out of business.
Enter Texas House Bill 3229, which is intended to require more professional management of renewable energy recycling companies than has been seen in the past.
The bill passed the Texas House earlier this year, and passed the state Senate on Monday. It's expected to go to Governor Greg Abbott, who is in turn expected to sign the bill into law.
An analysis of the bill offered in the Texas Legislature noted the "30-acre graveyard of windmill blades has developed near Sweetwater, Texas, due to financial mismanagement by a purported recycling company that was ultimately unable to meet its obligations or perform the services it was contracted to deliver."
The companies that run wind and solar power sites are required by the state to put up the money for tearing down and possibly restoring land to its original state at the end of renewable site leasing agreements, that hasn't been the case with recycling companies.
House Bill 3229, though, mandates that renewable recycling facilities "provide financial assurance to cover 125 percent of the estimated costs to ensure that resources are available to complete the necessary recycling and disposal activities."
And the bill requires renewable energy recyclers to turn in annual reports that include details of what recycling materials they have in their possession, how long it will take to dispose of them and how much the processes will cost.
The annual report is to be submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.