Short term technical expert assignment in the field of off-grid rural electrification via solar home systems (SHS) with the specific focus on recycling of batteries used in SHS

In order to achieve SDG No. 7 (affordable and clean energy for all), numerous developing countries and emerging economies are implementing electrification projects, and are partly supported by the international community and development banks in this field. In particular in rural environments, off-grid electrification by small-scale solar home systems (SHS) is a common and effective and widely applied strategy. However, such solar home systems have a number of consequences for rural waste management: In particular batteries, but also other parts of the SHS installations reach their end-of-life after several years. Due to the absence of modern waste management systems in rural environments, these patterns might lead to unresolved hazardous waste issues in the future. Due to the fact that in particular the related batteries pose a threat to the environment and possibly human health if they are not recycled adequately after they have reached their life-cycle, KfW has assigned Oeko-Institut with a fact-finding mission to (1) assess the current market and recycling practices for end-of-life lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries in Myanmar, and to (2) prepare an encompassing technical assistance assignment with the objective of developing a battery recycling concept for Myanmar.