Nigeria’s renewable energy boom is creating a new challenge: what happens to solar panels, batteries, inverters and other equipment when they reach the end of their useful lives?

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the E-waste Producers Responsibility Organisation Nigeria (EPRON), and E-Terra Technologies are now exploring ways to tackle that problem through better collection, recycling and resource recovery.

The discussions followed a visit by UNIDO and EPRON representatives to E-Terra’s Materials Recovery and Recycling Facility in Abule-Ado, Lagos, where they examined how electronic waste can be collected, processed and recovered. The stakeholders are looking specifically at renewable-energy equipment and how it can be responsibly managed when it becomes obsolete.

The issue is becoming more important as solar adoption expands across Nigeria. UNIDO has previously highlighted the growing waste stream from expired solar panels, batteries, inverters, and other off-grid energy equipment, warning that improper disposal could create environmental and health risks.

That means Nigeria’s clean-energy transition cannot stop at installing more solar systems. The country also needs systems for what comes after them.

The proposed collaboration places emphasis on collection and take-back schemes, material recovery, recycling, and environmentally sound treatment. It also aligns with the broader push toward an Extended Producer Responsibility and circular-economy framework, where producers and other stakeholders share responsibility for products throughout their lifecycle.

This could become an important part of Nigeria’s renewable-energy story. Solar panels and batteries should not simply solve today’s energy problems while creating tomorrow’s waste problems.

A truly sustainable energy transition means thinking about the full life cycle of clean-energy equipment from installation to recovery and recycling.