Date: 11th August 2026
Media coverage - COEMinerals researchers are contributing to "a silver lining to Australia’s solar panel landfill problem" - see the extensive media coverage on topic from within Australia and around the world
COEMinerals researchers, at our University of Newcastle node, are gaining national and international attention for their innovative silver-recovery-from-used-solar-panels technique, drawing from traditional mineral-recovery-from-ore ‘froth flotation’
Press clippings follow / or scroll to read media release
Radio coverage — Australia
ABC Radio NSW (Newcastle, Central West NSW, Western Plains, South East NSW, Riverina, North Coast, New England North West, Wagga Wagga, Mid North Coast & Coffs Harbour) — Mornings program: Interview with A/Prof Mahshid Firouszi: listen here (starts at 1:05 — ends 1:13.22) — Thu 13 Aug 2026
ABC Radio NSW — Drive Time News (5.03 + 5.32pm) — 12 August 2026
2NURFM Radio — News Bulletin — University of Newcastle researchers have successfully scaled up a process to recover silver from solar panels, The team used froth… — 13 August 2026
TV coverage — Australia
Channel 10 TV — News update (Newcastle) (2.22pm) — University of Newcastle researchers have found a possible new way to recycle solar panels by recovering almost all the silver from the panels during the recycling trial — 12 August 2026
Online coverage — Global
MSN - World’s first: Researchers pull near-100 percent silver from solar panels without acid — Fri 10 Aug 2026
MSN / Money: New recycling breakthroughs target plastic, solar, and industrial waste
Yahoo! News — Interesting Engineering — World’s first: Researchers pull near-100 percent silver from solar panels without acid — Wed 12 Aug 2026
Finanz Nachrichten (Ad Hoc news for Deutshland) — Researchers near 100% silver recovery from end-of-life solar panels- 12 August 2026 (Germany)
ad-hoc-news | by Redaktion Ad Hoc News — Silver Caught Between a Pivotal CPI Report and a Supply Squeeze That Won’t Let Go — 12 August 2026
Times of India — Australian researchers recover Almost 100-% of silver from solar cell waste helping Australia tackle 1 million tonnes of retired panels by 2050 — 12 September 2026
Online coverage — National news (Australia)
The National Tribune - Researchers uncover a silver lining to Australia’s solar panel landfill problem — Tues 11 Aug 2026Newcastle Weekly: Newcastle targets silver trapped in old solar panels — Tues 11 Aug 2026
Online coverage — Niche PV, Solar and Engineering
Process Technology — Researchers recover silver from end— of— life solar panels - 19 Aug 2026
Renew Economy — Researchers “froth” over new solar recycling method that recovers 99 pct of silver from used panels — Thurs 13 Aug 2026
+ X post: https://x.com/renew_economy/status/2088046954689294480?s=20
PV Magazine (global) — Tesla’s $10.1 billion solar bet, a major patent revoked and a recycling breakthrough — Wed 12 Aug 2026
+ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts…
PV Magazine Australia - Researchers near 100% silver recovery from end-of-life solar panels — Wed 12 Aug 2026
+ Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/752757706378080/posts/1774493550871152
+ X post: https://items.streem.com.au/TW3563174724
PV Tech — Australian pilot recovers nearly 100% of silver from retired PV modules – Thurs 13 August 2026
Solar Now — Researchers uncover a silver lining to Australia’s solar panel landfill problem – nationaltribune.com.au — Fri 14 Aug 2026
Solar Bytes — Newcastle researchers scale up silver recovery in Australia – Fri 14 August 18, 2026
Tech Xplore — Flotation process recovers nearly 100% of silver during solar panel recycling — Tech Xplore — Tues 11 Aug 2026
Life Technology, by Life Technology™ — University of Newcastle Advances Solar Panel Recycling — Wed 12 August 2026
Interesting Engineering — World’s first: Researchers pull near-100 percent silver from solar panels without acid — Thurs 13 August 2026
Sustainability Matters — Researchers recover silver from end-of-life solar panels – Thurs 13 Aug 2026
+ LinkedIn post https://lnkd.in/p/gguxUQqw
Green Review — Researchers nears solution to solar panel waste problem — 14 August 2026, 2026
+ LinkedIn post: https://lnkd.in/p/gztnMbcs
The Cool Down — Researchers in Australia found stainless steel can recover 93% of the silver from old solar panels — 10 August 2026
Waste Management Review — Researchers uncover a silver lining to Australia’s solar panel recycling problem - Tues 18 Aug 2026
+ LinkedIn post: https://lnkd.in/p/g3jgtTec
Tiang News — all about solar power — Acid-Free Process Recovers Nearly 100% Silver From End-Of-Life Solar Panels — 20 Aug 2026
Ray of PV Knowledge - Researchers Near 100% Silver Recovery from End-of-Life Solar Panels ♻️ / https://lnkd.in/p/gYrg7trJ
Read the media release below, or online here:
Researchers uncover a silver lining to Australia’s solar panel landfill problem
Australia’s growing mountain of solar panel waste could become far more valuable, with University of Newcastle researchers taking a major step towards making solar panel-recycling economically sustainable.
The team has successfully scaled up a process that recovers valuable silver from end-of-life solar panels, demonstrating almost 100 per cent silver recovery during the world’s first continuous pilot-scale flotation trial for solar-panel recycling.
Researchers recovered silver from almost half a tonne of retired solar panels, building on the team’s earlier research showing that froth flotation – a mineral-processing technique widely used in the mining industry – could recover silver from solar waste without the need for acid.
Associate Professor Mahshid Firouzi, Deputy Director from the University of Newcastle’s Centre for Critical Minerals and Urban Mining (CRITIUM), said the challenge was no longer whether silver could be recovered from solar panels, but whether it could be recovered at a scale and cost that made recycling commercially viable.
“Our earlier small-scale batch research proved flotation could recover silver from solar panels,” Associate Professor Firouzi said.
“This latest work demonstrates that the process can operate continuously at a much larger scale with nearly 100 per cent silver recovery, bringing us closer to commercial implementation.”
Improving the economics of recycling
The pilot processed 22 kilograms of solar-cell material recovered from approximately 460 kilograms of end-of-life solar panels, which is equivalent to around 23 residential solar panels.
Researchers recovered almost 100 per cent of the silver and concentrated it into a high-value product representing just 1.25 per cent of the original material. The resulting product contained more than 80 times the silver concentration of the original solar cell material.
The team’s preliminary economic assessment suggests the flotation-based process could be three to five times less expensive than conventional acid-leaching approaches, which can be costly to scale due to their reliance on large volumes of chemicals and the management of hazardous waste.
Recycling solar panels is currently estimated to cost around $10 to $15 per panel, compared with only a few dollars to send a panel to landfill. Associate Professor Firouzi said recovering silver could help shift that equation.
“At the moment, recycling often costs more than landfill. But if recyclers can efficiently recover and sell the silver contained within solar panels, that changes the economics completely,” Associate Professor Firouzi said.
“Silver is the highest-value material in a solar cell. Recovering it has the potential to make solar-panel recycling far more financially attractive,” Associate Professor Firouzi said.
(L‑R) PhD student Luke Christiansen, Associate Professor Mahshid Firouzi and PhD candidate Hamidreza Saffarian
Recovering value from solar waste
As increasing numbers of solar panels reach the end of their operational life, managing the growing waste stream is becoming a major challenge worldwide.
By 2050, more than one million tonnes of waste panels are expected in Australia, containing an estimated 300 – 500 tonnes of silver.
While materials such as glass and aluminium are routinely recovered, valuable materials including silver often remain locked within the solar-cell component.
“We’re effectively burying silver in landfill when we have the ability to recover it and return it to the economy.”
Current recovery methods typically rely on large volumes of acid to extract silver. In contrast, the University of Newcastle process uses water, air and small amounts of chemicals that help the silver attach to air bubbles, allowing it to be separated and recovered without acid.
“We’re applying proven mineral-processing technology to one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the renewable energy sector,” Associate Professor Firouzi said.
Closing the loop on renewable energy
Associate Professor Firouzi said recovering critical minerals from waste streams will become increasingly important as Australia continues its transition to renewable energy.
“If we’re serious about building a circular economy, we need to think not only about how we generate clean energy, but also how we recover the materials that make those technologies possible.”
The research team is continuing to investigate opportunities to apply the technology to other waste streams, including printed circuit boards from decommissioned data centre equipment and other electronic waste.
Led by Associate Professor Firouzi, the project team based at the University’s Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources includes PhD candidate Hamidreza Saffarian from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals (COEMinerals); and Centre Director, Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin.
The findings have been released as a preprint in ChemRxiv.
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Note UON LI posts:
VC Alex Zelinski — https://lnkd.in/p/gbuPGdTG