After decades of proving themselves crucial components of the global energy mix, renewable-energy assets have shown they are not only here to stay, but they are worth investing in.

To put it in numbers, in June 2024, the International Energy Agency reported total energy investment worldwide was expected to exceed $3 trillion in 2024 for the first time, with some $2 trillion set to go toward clean technologies such as renewables, electric vehicles (EVs), nuclear power, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency improvements and heat pumps.

Yet, as renewable-energy assets such as wind farms and solar plants increasingly near the end of their operational lives, questions about how to sustainably dispose of the decommissioned materials are becoming more prevalent. It is something of a paradox. Although the purpose of these assets is to generate clean energy, the disposal of retired materials itself is not entirely sustainable.

Although some companies have integ