OnePlanet Unveils PRISM™: Silicon Above 95% Purity with Ore-Grade Silver from End-of-Life Solar Panels

• Fully automated, fully mechanical process recovers a silicon stream exceeding 95% purity carrying approximately 1% silver, validated by independent third-party laboratories, from crystalline-silicon modules of any type or condition
• Company awarded a $14.5 million investment tax credit allocation under the federal Qualifying Advanced Energy Project (48C) program to support construction of its first industrial-scale facility
• Production targeted for 2027; OnePlanet is developing metallurgical-grade silicon and silver refining, targeted for 2030

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- OnePlanet, a U.S.-based advanced materials recovery company, today unveiled PRISM™, a proprietary, fully automated process that recovers copper, aluminum, and high-purity silicon carrying ore-grade silver from end-of-life solar panels at the company's Florida facility. PRISM has completed all engineering testing, with anticipated production beginning in 2027.

PRISM ("Photovoltaic Recycling through Integrated Systems and Mechanics") is the Company's next-generation, ground-up redesign of the line running at OnePlanet's commercial demonstration facility in Green Cove Springs, Florida, which has processed end-of-life crystalline-silicon modules for more than two years. Developed over the past 15 months, the process is fully mechanical, using no thermal or chemical separation steps.

In repeated, staged testing of the complete equipment configuration, PRISM removed 99.5% of module glass at 99% glass purity before any size-reduction step; recovering clean, saleable glass while leaving the silicon- and silver-bearing cell material concentrated rather than diluted through mixed, crushed streams. Performance held on monofacial and bifacial modules alike, whether intact or storm-damaged. Proprietary downstream stages then concentrate that material into a silicon stream exceeding 95% purity carrying approximately 1% silver, as well as a 99% pure copper granulate stream, and a 99.9% pure aluminum (6063) product. The results are supported by testing at independent third-party laboratories.

"One percent silver is not a trace amount. In metallurgical terms, that's a substantial grade, richer than most mined ore," said André Pujadas, Chief Executive Officer of OnePlanet. "Combined with silicon above 95% purity, you have a single feedstock that can feed both an MGS and silver refinery under one roof. Achieving this level of purity for the silicon stream is a substantial milestone in our pursuit of entering the metallurgical grade market, while further diversifying the process to enable 5N silver."

Before co-founding OnePlanet, Pujadas spent his career in steel and metals recovery at Nucor Corporation, PSC Metals and Severstal, where he helped lead the electric-arc-furnace transformation that made recycled scrap the backbone of American steel production.

Silicon and silver were both added to the U.S. Critical Minerals List in November 2025, and both are materials the United States today imports in volume even as domestic solar and advanced manufacturing grow. OnePlanet has been awarded a $14.5 million investment tax credit allocation under the federal Qualifying Advanced Energy Project (48C) program to support construction of its first industrial-scale facility, dubbed 'River City', which will house the first fully integrated PRISM production lines.

OnePlanet's next development program is the metallurgical-grade silicon (MGS) refining process itself –designed to recover the contained silver within the refining step, so silver emerges as a second finished product – targeted for 2030. Silicon above 95% purity requires far less upgrading to reach MGS specification, significantly reducing the energy and emissions intensity of the refining step compared with producing MGS from virgin quartzite. Once the refinery is online, the silicon output from PRISM would be consumed internally, completing OnePlanet's transition from materials recovery into the multi-billion-dollar MGS and silver refining markets.

About OnePlanet
OnePlanet is a U.S.-based advanced materials recovery company developing large-scale, end-to-end recycling solutions for solar asset owners. Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company recovers silicon, silver, and other materials from end-of-life solar modules — keeping millions of panels out of landfills and putting valuable materials back into American supply chains in support of a true circular economy. The company holds R2v3 Appendix G certification, the electronics recycling industry's highest standard for responsible solar panel processing, audited by Amtivo. Learn more at www.1planetrecycling.com.

Media Contact
Helen McCarthy Malkus
Vice President, Mission Control Communications
[email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, including regarding the performance and scale-up of the PRISM process, production timing, the construction of the company's first industrial-scale facility and the River City campus, the realization of anticipated federal tax credit benefits, and OnePlanet's planned development of metallurgical-grade silicon and silver refining. These statements reflect current intent and expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties — including technology scale-up, capital availability, and market and regulatory conditions — that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially. OnePlanet undertakes no obligation to update these statements except as required by law.

SOURCE OnePlanet Solar Recycling