Building a standard framework at the national level:

In October 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Technical Specifications for Pollution Control in Recycling and Treatment of Waste Photovoltaic Equipment (Draft for Comments)", which for the first time required production and recycling companies to establish an information ledger for the entire life cycle.

The "Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China (Draft)" solicited opinions in April 2025. Article 977 proposed that "in China, wind power and photovoltaic power generation enterprises are responsible for handling of retired PV and wind equipment."

In June 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Implementation Plan for Deepening the Green and Low-Carbon Standardization of Industry and Information Technology", which clearly proposed to establish a green and low-carbon standard system for photovoltaic modules by 2027, focusing on formulating carbon footprint accounting rules, requirements for the disassembly and processing of retired PV modules, and technical specifications for the comprehensive utilization of pyrolysis/solvent methods .

Local technical regulations are intensively implemented:

In February 2025, Qinghai implemented the first "Technical Guidelines for Pollution Control in the Utilization and Disposal of Waste Photovoltaic Modules and Waste Wind Turbine Blades"in China, which clearly stipulates that wind power and photovoltaic power generation enterprises are responsible for the disposal of waste photovoltaic modules and waste wind turbine blades.

In July 2024, Jiangsu issued the "Technical Specifications for Pollution Control from Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Photovoltaic Modules (Draft for Comments)", requiring the establishment of an electronic ledger for the entire life cycle of waste modules.

In June 2025, Hebei Province issued a request for comments on the "Technical Specifications for Pollution Control in the Utilization and Disposal of Retired Photovoltaic Equipment", encouraging photovoltaic equipment manufacturers involved in distributed projects to recycle retired photovoltaic equipment through self-recycling, joint recycling or entrusting third-party professional recycling companies.

Judicial deterrence upgrade:

In October 2024, the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the "Guidelines for Handling Environmental Pollution Crimes" to strengthen criminal liability for illegal incineration and landfilling of photovoltaic components. In June 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment publicly solicited clues on illegal dumping and disposal of solid waste, focusing on the supervision of "retired new energy equipment."