Opinion – Circularity Carbon Credits: Turning Waste Into India’s Renewable Advantage

India is shooting up the world renewables leaderboard. According to multiple industry statistics, over 200 GW of Non-fossil Power Capacity is Installed: Solar/Wind Poised for Exponential Growth. But behind this success lurks a growing problem: the materials inside decommissioned panels and turbines. Glass, aluminum, silicon, copper, steel, and composites are precious resources, carbon-bearing, and at risk of being wasted.

Enter circularity carbon credits — a financial tool that incentivizes certified recovery and reuse of these materials. By putting money into recycling, circularity carbon credits turn probable waste into an emission-reducing, revenue-generating asset.

The scale of opportunity is mammoth. India will have ~600,000 tonnes of PV module waste available by 2030, potentially ~456,000 tonnes of glass, ~48,000 tonnes of aluminium, ~30,000 tonnes of silicon, and ~6,000 tonnes of copper if recycled according to industry sources. On the wind side, India’s 51.6 GW wind fleet is equivalent to roughly 516,000 tonnes of composite blade material that will become part of decommissioning streams after 2035. Circularity carbon credits enable funds to be generated from recycling these materials. Thus, unlocking sustainability’s hidden financial and strategic value.

For investors and developers, it is compelling: recycling is expensive, and without incentives, end-of-life management takes a backseat. This gap is filled by circularity carbon credits, which make recycling economically sound and cost-effective. They also provide auditable evidence of embodied-carbon savings, generating opportunities in voluntary carbon and sustainability markets

For policy and national considerations, circularity carbon credits provide material security. India can reclaim vital metals that would otherwise need costly imports. Use of this home-grown feedstock aids future renewable growth, cuts greenhouse gas emissions and enhances local supply chains.

India requires a systemic approach to maximise impact:

• National credit framework: Link credits to material recovery and avoided emissions.
• Regional recycling hubs: Where waste from large solar and wind installations can be efficiently processed
• Blended finance: Mix of public seed money and private investment to scale plants off overly generous subsidies.

What’s great about circularity carbon credits is that they marry environmental responsibility with economic sense. Developers make money, investors gain access to green assets with real credibility, and the nation procures a strategic critical material source — all while cutting lifecycle emissions.

India’s own energy transition is less about gigawatts installed and more about closing the loop on materials, emissions and finance. circularity carbon credits can transform today’s used panels and blades into tomorrow’s resources, so that the country’s renewable expansion is not just rapid and massive but genuinely sustainable.