Alberta Bans Solar Panels from Landfills
September 21, 2026
Alberta is launching North America’s first solar panel recycling program to protect landfill space, recover valuable resources and build a new recycling industry.
Beginning Oct. 1, Alberta will become the first province in Canada to operate a solar panel recycling program and is banning solar panels from landfill disposal. This will ensure they are directed toward reuse and recycling when they reach the end of their useful lives.
Alberta has the second-largest installed solar capacity in Canada, and that capacity continues to grow. By 2045, more than 95 per cent of the solar panels currently installed in Alberta are expected to reach the end of their lives, generating as much as 72,700 tonnes of material.
An environmental fee of $14 will apply to each new solar panel supplied in Alberta beginning Oct. 1. For a typical residential installation of 20 panels, the proposed fee would total $280, less than 1.5 per cent of the overall installation cost. This ensures Albertans buying these products – not taxpayers decades from now – fund responsible recycling.
The fee will ensure money is available to collect, transport and recycle panels when they reach the end of their lives, rather than leaving municipalities and taxpayers to pay the bill decades from now. It will only apply to new panels supplied after the program begins, with no retroactive fees on panels already installed.
Quick facts
- The fee will apply only to new panels supplied on or after Oct. 1. There will be no retroactive fee on panels already installed.
- The fee is intended to fund the collection, transportation and recycling of legacy and newly supplied panels.
- Most solar panels have an expected lifespan of about 25 years.
- Alberta and the Alberta Recycling Management Authority will work with industry to build reuse and recycling capacity in Alberta as volumes increase.
- Alberta expanded the electronics recycling regulation in 2024 to include solar panels, wind turbine components and electric vehicle batteries.
