Our sustainable technology for a better world.

A new era of photovoltaik recycling

As a technology company, FLAXRES has set itself the task to revolutionize the recycling of composite materials. With a process based on high-intensity light pulses, photovoltaic modules can be separated into their main fractions. Thanks to the innovative method, the components obtained are of high quality and can be profitably returned to the material cycle.

Advantages of our technology

Extremely fast

Time saving with every module

Without any chemicals

No dangerous substances

Energy efficient

Economic process

Mobile

Worldwide needs-based deployment

Reasons to think about it

Industrialized countries already produce up to 50 million tons of electronic waste annually. Previous recycling methods do not offer any cost-efficient, holistic recycling options. Therefore, FLAXRES has developed a new recycling process that fully recovers all materials without the use of chemicals and allows for the return the materials to production – A new standard in the recycling of photovoltaics.

The number of defective photovoltaic modules or those that have been taken out of service as a result of so-called “repowering” has risen drastically by now. In Germany alone, around 400,000 tons are forecasted for 2030, which equates to approximately 20 million modules. The high quality of the materials after the separation process by FLAXRES enables a genuine and economically lucrative circular economy, in contrast to the currently predominant “downcycling” by the shredding and subsequent sorting of the photovoltaic modules.

Five facts about us:
We think so too! That is why we work together with well-known and international companies in order to achieve comprehensive acceptance. However, we are currently not accepting any modules. FLAXRES sees itself as a technology company that will soon offer the dismantling of composite materials, such as PV panels, as a service. This means that we are not a recycling company and do not have a first-time acceptance license for e-waste.
In fact, we can already demonstrate a clock speed of 60 seconds per module, with the aim of reducing the process to 10 seconds. The heart of our process is a high-intensity light pulse, similar to the flash light of a camera. It follows the same path as the sunlight would and briefly heats up the light-absorbing layers to several hundred degrees Celsius. The combines effect of heat and material expansion enables the separation at the boundary layers. This process is supplemented by preceding and subsequent, fully automated, mechanical process steps. More detailed information can be found under the menu item "Technology".
The variety of PV panels is almost endless. Therefore, we have made sure that not only different sizes can be recycled with our technology, but also both, silicon-based modules and thin-film modules. With our process, it is irrelevant whether the front glass is intact or broken.
Enabling genuine recycling is our top priority. We achieve this by separating the components according to type. This way we are allowing the materials, primarily glass, aluminum, silicon and silver, to be returned to the material cycle due to their high quality. They can then, for instance, form the basis for new photovoltaic modules. Curretly, there are no economical feasible processing options available for the polymers - but we are working on it.
With our mobile equipment, we enable an application wherever it is needed. The market entry with the first five recycling units is planned for 2024. We offer a rental concept on a monthly basis for the equipment.

Recycling as fast as a flash of light.

We separate the photovoltaic panels into their six main fractions: glass, aluminum, polymers, bus bars, cables & junction boxes and the valuable solar cells.