Comstock Metals and Virtus Renewables Form Strategic Solar Recycling Partnership
Comstock (NYSE American: LODE) announced a strategic partnership between its subsidiary Comstock Metals and Virtus Renewables Service Group to develop comprehensive solar panel recycling solutions. Comstock Metals, the first North American company to achieve R2v3/RIOS Responsible Recycling Standard certification, will combine its zero-landfill recycling capabilities with Virtus's renewable energy expertise.
The partnership aims to provide complete decommissioning, logistics, and recycling services for solar panels and related components across the United States. This collaboration strengthens both companies' positions in the renewable energy sector while ensuring environmentally sustainable management of end-of-life solar assets.
- First North American solar panel recycling company certified to R2v3/RIOS Responsible Recycling Standard
- Strategic partnership expands market reach and service capabilities across the United States
- Zero-landfill recycling solution ensures environmental sustainability
- Integration of comprehensive decommissioning, logistics, and recycling services under one partnership
- None.
Insights
Comstock's strategic partnership with Virtus strengthens its position in the growing solar recycling market, addressing industry sustainability challenges.
Comstock's new partnership with Virtus Renewables represents a strategic expansion in the increasingly critical solar panel recycling market. As the first North American solar recycler certified to the R2v3/RIOS Responsible Recycling Standard, Comstock brings valuable credentials to this collaboration. The partnership combines Comstock's zero-landfill recycling capabilities with Virtus's comprehensive renewable energy services, creating an integrated solution for decommissioning, logistics, and recycling of solar panels.
This alliance addresses a growing market need as the first generation of solar installations reaches end-of-life. With millions of solar panels expected to require decommissioning in the coming years, the timing is opportune. The solar industry faces mounting pressure to implement sustainable end-of-life solutions rather than sending panels to landfills, where their materials (including glass, aluminum, silver, copper, and sometimes lead) create environmental concerns.
By offering comprehensive, zero-landfill recycling services, this partnership positions both companies to capitalize on the circular economy opportunities within renewable energy. For Comstock specifically, this expands their market reach through Virtus's established customer base and potentially accelerates growth in their metals recycling division. The partnership likely enhances operational efficiencies through shared logistics and customer acquisition costs while strengthening both companies' environmental credentials in an increasingly ESG-focused market.
The Comstock-Virtus partnership creates a significant vertical integration opportunity in the renewable energy supply chain. By combining Comstock's specialized recycling capabilities with Virtus's broader renewable energy services, they're establishing a closed-loop system that addresses current fragmentation in solar panel end-of-life management.
This partnership specifically tackles key logistical challenges that have hindered effective solar recycling. Currently, decommissioned panels often change hands multiple times between removal, transportation, and processing - increasing costs and environmental impact while reducing traceability. Their integrated approach streamlines this process, potentially reducing transportation emissions and improving chain-of-custody documentation.
From a materials recovery perspective, this collaboration could improve economics of solar recycling operations. Current recycling processes often recover only bulk materials like aluminum frames and glass, while more valuable elements remain unrecovered. Comstock's metals expertise combined with scale from Virtus's network may enable more comprehensive materials recovery. The zero-landfill commitment is particularly notable as it addresses a growing concern about renewable energy's waste footprint - something increasingly scrutinized by regulators and sustainability certification programs.
For customers managing large solar installations, this partnership offers simplified compliance management through a single point of contact for end-of-life panel handling, potentially reducing regulatory risks and documentation burdens while ensuring proper handling of potentially hazardous materials found in some panel types.
VIRGINIA CITY, Nev., June 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comstock Inc. (NYSE American: LODE) today announced that its subsidiary, Comstock Metals LLC ("Comstock"), a pioneer in sustainable, zero-landfill solar panel recycling and the first solar panel recycling company in North America to be certified to the R2v3/RIOS Responsible Recycling Standard, has entered into a strategic partnership with Virtus Renewables Service Group Inc. (“Virtus”), a leading provider of comprehensive renewable energy solutions.
Under this new partnership, Comstock and Virtus will jointly develop and deliver comprehensive recycling, decommissioning, and logistics solutions tailored to the specific needs of the renewable energy markets. This partnership ensures a consistent, complete, reliable, zero-landfill recycling solution for all solar panels and related components, enhancing both companies' capabilities and commitment to environmental sustainability.
“Our partnership with Virtus reinforces our mutual commitment and relentless dedication to innovate and integrate systems for responsible environmental stewardship,” stated Dr. Fortunato Villamagna, President of Comstock Metals. “Virtus Renewables has distinguished itself in the renewable energy sector through its comprehensive operations and maintenance services, project management, and dedication to innovative and sustainable practices. We are proud to complement their efforts by integrating industry-leading recycling solutions that ensure that end-of-life solar assets are managed responsibly and sustainably.”
This agreement leverages the strengths of two innovators and enables a systemwide service offering, expanded industry reach, responsiveness, reliability, and creates comprehensive, environmentally conscious solutions for renewable energy clients across the United States.
“This is another example of Comstock Metals’ ability to systemically address the critical gaps within the solar panel recycling industry, paving the way for robust, sustainable solutions across the renewable energy sector,” said Corrado De Gasperis, Executive Chairman and CEO of Comstock Inc. “Our partnership with Virtus Renewables represents another significant milestone in our mission to deliver innovative, sustainable recycling practices across the renewable energy supply chain.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Comstock Metals in our shared mission to bring unparalleled value to our customers. This collaboration enables us to combine Virtus’s end-to-end renewable energy service expertise with Comstock’s industry-leading, zero-landfill recycling capabilities,” stated Bo Thisted, CEO of Virtus Renewables. “By teaming up, we are not only expanding our ability to serve the renewable energy market, but also ensuring that our customers benefit from a full lifecycle certification process that upholds the highest standards of sustainability, reliability, and service.”
About Virtus Renewables
Virtus Renewables is a leading renewable energy solutions provider offering a comprehensive array of operations, project management and maintenance services for solar and battery storage projects. Virtus optimizes customer asset performance with a strong commitment to innovation, quality, and sustainability that supports an expanding clean, renewable energy future.
About Comstock Metals
Comstock Metals is a leading, Nevada-based, zero-landfill recycling solution that specializes in the environmentally responsible recycling of solar panels and related renewable energy infrastructure and equipment. Comstock’s unique delaminating processes, ongoing material innovations, and sustainable practices differentiates its recycling leadership and strengthens the supply chain of domestically manufactured electrification products. www.comstockmetals.com
About Comstock Inc.
Comstock Inc. (NYSE: LODE) innovates and commercializes technologies that are deployable across entire industries to contribute to energy abundance by efficiently extracting and converting under-utilized natural resources, such as waste and other forms of woody biomass into renewable fuels, and end-of-life electronics into recovered electrification metals. To learn more, please visit www.comstock.inc.
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