End-of-Life Heavy Metal Releases from Photovoltaic Panels and Quantum Dot Films: Hazardous Waste Concerns or Not?

To determine if there are potential concerns related to the environmental end-of-life impacts of photovoltaic (PV) or quantum-dot display (QD) technologies, the goal of this study was to assess the magnitude of heavy metal leaching using simulated landfill methodologies from devices in an attempt to forecast the lifecycle environmental impacts of subsequent generations QD-enabled PV technologies. The underlying hypotheses are (H1) existing PV and QD thin-film technologies do not release heavy metals at concentrations exceeding RCRA or State of California regulatory limits, and (H2) the disposal of PV and QD thin-film technologies does not exceed Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR). Three task-oriented objectives were completed: (O1) Five representative PV panels and two representative thin-film displays with QD technology were obtained from commercial sources. (O2) RCRA Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) tests and California Waste Extraction Tests (WET) were conducted in addition to microwave...