Two enforcement records, one pattern.

Aug 13

Written By S3

FIELD NOTE · COMPLIANCE & THE CERTIFIED PATHWAY · JULY 2026 //What the Korean Ministry of Environment and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have documented - heavy metal pollution.

THE FRAME

U.S. solar end-of-life procurement is entering a phase where the supplier’s regulatory record is the procurement-grade evidence. Two recent public agency findings — one in Texas, one in South Korea — illustrate why.

RECORD 01 · TEXAS

TCEQ Notice of Violation, April 30, 2026.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued a Notice of Violation against SolarCycle’s Odessa, Texas facility on April 30, 2026 (Regulated Entity RN103113692; 8000 Golder Avenue, Odessa, TX 79764, Ector County). The cited violation is failure to monitor stormwater discharges from regulated industrial activities, in violation of 30 TAC 281.25(a)(4) and Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit No. TXR05FZ74, Parts IV.A.1 and V.N.4. The investigation (Number 2130309) was opened in response to Complaint 455069, received March 23, 2026, in which the complainant alleged improper storage of solar panels in the facility yard[1].

The NOV is a finding of permit non-compliance — it is a regulatory enforcement record, not a final adjudication of storage practices or processing volumes. The record itself is entered into the public file by the state environmental agency with jurisdiction. The complaint allegations and the violation finding are both publicly searchable through TCEQ’s Web Access to Complaint Information portal. The complaint was filed under TCEQ’s industrial and hazardous-waste program, but the violation TCEQ cited is a stormwater-monitoring failure under the facility’s TPDES permit — not a waste-handling or contamination finding. Per the WACI record, the investigation was conducted April 2, 2026; the violation is listed as resolved, and the complaint closed, on April 13, 2026; the formal Notice of Violation is dated April 30, 2026.

RECORD 02 · SOUTH KOREA

Korean Ministry of Environment administrative order, December 2024.

The Korean Ministry of Environment’s Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office issued an administrative order at the end of December 2024 against Korea Zinc’s Onsan smelter — the publicly stated downstream smelting endpoint for SolarCycle’s recovered metals[2] and the documented downstream destination for silver- and copper-bearing residue from PedalPoint Holdings (the wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Korea Zinc). The order, issued under Article 27 of the Chemical Substances Control Act, barred the facility from storing sulfuric acid gas brought in from third parties and took effect in January 2025; it concerns third-party chemical storage and is entangled in the Korea Zinc–Young Poong corporate-control dispute, not an emissions or contamination finding against the smelter’s core operations[3].

The Onsan industrial complex that hosts this smelter is the same area for which peer-reviewed scientific literature has documented stream-sediment heavy-metal concentrations 3 to 1,302 times higher than in urban and other industrial areas of South Korea, statistically attributed to the complex’s smelting facilities[4], and road-sediment toxic-element concentrations described as “the highest values” globally compared to comparable urban and industrial areas[5].

THE PATTERN

Read together, the two records describe the same operational pathway from different ends. The dominant U.S. solar end-of-life flow runs: U.S. preprocessing site → Pacific freight → Korean smelting endpoint. State environmental regulators are now entering official records into the public regulatory file at both ends of that flow.

Neither record, on its own, establishes a systemic pattern. Together, they establish what procurement teams should already be assuming: that supplier regulatory records should be treated as part of the diligence frame for solar end-of-life contracts, alongside chain-of-custody documentation and certification status. This is S3’s recommended practice; it is not a review step required by the R2v3 or Appendix G standards.

THE CERTIFIED ALTERNATIVE

R2v3 Appendix G — the solar-specific responsible-recycling annex administered by SERI — becomes mandatory for any R2-certified recycler handling solar work in January 2027[6]. As of April 2026, only two North American facilities hold the certification: Comstock Metals (Silver Springs, NV)[7] and OnePlanet Solar Recycling (Florida)[8]. Comstock additionally holds RIOS certification and is operating at industrial scale today (approximately 100,000 t/yr capacity, ~3 million panels per year, full commissioning Q1–Q2 2026 per NYSE: LODE public disclosure)[9]. OnePlanet is certified but not yet operational at scale[10].

Pull the supplier’s state regulatory file before contract execution or renewal. State environmental agencies maintain public complaint and enforcement databases. In S3’s view, this should be a baseline element of supplier diligence; it is a recommended practice, not a step required by the certification standards.
Add R2v3 Appendix G certification as a mandatory contract specification ahead of the January 2027 deadline[11]. The transition risk is concentrated in 2026.
Require documented chain-of-custody from collection through final material disposition.
Audit current solar end-of-life suppliers against the certified domestic alternative now operating at industrial scale.

ABOUT THIS NOTE

S3 — Sustainable Source Studios is an international sustainability consultancy. This Field Note accompanies the S3 market review When the Old Solar Goes Down, Where Does It Actually Go? (July 2026) and the companion Field Notes The capacity–purity gap (on the IEA PVPS Task 12 third update) and The disappearing panel (July 2026). All are available on request.

ABOUT THIS ANALYSIS

S3 — Sustainable Source Studios is an international sustainability consultancy. This analysis is independent industry research grounded in primary regulatory records, peer-reviewed scientific literature, certification body records, and corporate public disclosures. Footnotes are provided so that any reader can independently verify the claims made.

This analysis is provided for industry research purposes only; it is not legal, financial, or investment advice, and readers should consult their own counsel and advisors.

S3 SUSTAINABLE SOURCE STUDIOS

[1]Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Web Access to Complaint Information (WACI). Complaint 455069 received March 23, 2026; Investigation 2130309 opened in response; Notice of Violation dated April 30, 2026 issued against SolarCycle Odessa (Regulated Entity RN103113692; Customer CN606087070; 8000 Golder Avenue, Odessa, TX 79764, Ector County). Cited violations: failure to monitor stormwater discharges from regulated industrial activities, 30 TAC 281.25(a)(4), and Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit TXR05FZ74, Part IV Section A.1 and Part V Section N.4. WACI portal: https://www2.tceq.texas.gov/oce/waci/index.cfm. [CONFIRMATION FLAG: The WACI portal disallows automated access; counsel should pull a current screenshot of the WACI record for Complaint 455069 before publication and retain it in the diligence file.]

[2]SOLARCYCLE. (November 3, 2025). Stopping Illegal E-waste Exports by Choosing the Right Recycling Partner. Available at: https://www.solarcycle.us/resources/stopping-illegal-e-waste-exports-by-choosing-the-right-recycling-partner. Direct statement: “We conduct extensive due diligence of our downstream processing partners for smelting and refining the recycled metals. We partnered with Korea Zinc, a publicly traded company and leading e-waste and metals recycler...”

[3]Business Wire. (January 14, 2025). Korea Zinc: Young Poong’s Zinc Production Suffers Another Blow as Environmental Authorities Suspend Korea Zinc from Processing Their Sulfuric Acid Byproducts. Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250114997537/en/. Direct statement: “The Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office, under the Ministry of Environment, has reportedly issued an administrative order to Korea Zinc’s Onsan Smelter at the end of December last year. The order, citing a violation of Article 27 of the Chemical Substances Control Act, stated that Korea Zinc’s Onsan Smelter is prohibited from storing sulfuric acid gas brought in from third parties.” Independently confirmed in Mining-Journal.com (January 27, 2025).

[4]Jeong, H., Choi, J. Y., & Ra, K. (2021). Heavy Metal Pollution Assessment in Stream Sediments from Urban and Different Types of Industrial Areas in South Korea. Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal, 30(7), 804–820. DOI: 10.1080/15320383.2021.1893646. Direct statement: “The concentration of heavy metals, except for Li, Be, and Cs in the stream sediments from the Onsan industrial complex near the largest Cu/Zn/Pb smelting facilities, was 3 to 1,302 times higher than that in urban and other industrial areas.”

[5]Jeong, H., Choi, J. Y., & Ra, K. (2021). Potentially toxic elements pollution in road deposited sediments around the active smelting industry of Korea. Scientific Reports, 11, 7238. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86698-x. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-86698-x. Direct statement: “The PTEs concentrations of this study were the highest values compared to the soils around the smelter and the RDS in urban and industrial areas in the world.”

[6]SERI (Sustainable Electronics Recycling International). R2v3 Standard, Appendix G (effective January 31, 2024; mandatory for R2-certified solar recyclers beginning January 2027). Available at: https://sustainableelectronics.org/r2-standard.

[7]Comstock Inc. (NYSE: LODE). Public press releases of January 9, 2026, January 12, 2026, and March 3, 2026. Available at: https://comstockmetals.com/newsroom/. Also reported by PV Tech (January 12, 2026), Recycling Magazine (January 9, 2026), and PV Magazine USA (January 12, 2026). Comstock Metals: first R2v3 + RIOS + Appendix G certification in North America (2025); approximately 100,000 t/yr capacity at Silver Springs, NV; commissioning Q1 2026 through April; continuous operations Q2 2026.

[8]OnePlanet Solar Recycling. R2v3 Appendix G certification received October 2025. Green Cove Springs, Florida facility expected to commission by 2027. Public certification records confirmed via SERI R2v3 certified facility directory.

[9] Comstock Inc. (NYSE: LODE). Public press releases of January 9, 2026, January 12, 2026, and March 3, 2026, available at https://comstockmetals.com/newsroom/. Comstock Metals: R2v3 + RIOS + Appendix G certified; approximately 100,000 t/yr capacity (approximately 3 million panels per year) at Silver Springs, NV; commissioning Q1 2026 through April; continuous operations Q2 2026.

[10] OnePlanet Solar Recycling. R2v3 Appendix G certification received October 2025; Green Cove Springs, Florida facility expected to commission by 2027. Confirmed via SERI’s R2v3 certified facility directory.

[11] Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI). R2v3 Responsible Recycling Standard, Appendix G (effective January 31, 2024; mandatory for R2-certified solar recyclers beginning January 2027). Available at: https://sustainableelectronics.org/r2-standard.