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Sustainability 4 min read

Recycling Wind Turbine Blades: Challenges and Solutions

Wind turbine blades, made of fibreglass and resin composites, are hard to recycle; Siemens Gamesa and Vestas are leading new technological solutions.

Dismantled wind turbine blades for recycling

Recycling wind turbine blades is a growing challenge for the wind sector: the fibreglass, carbon and epoxy resin composites that provide strength and lightness are durable but difficult to separate and process, and removing blades that span dozens of metres is logistically complex. Much of the material still ends up in landfill.

Innovations and examples

  • Water-jet cutting and chemical recycling to separate and recover fibres and resins
  • Siemens Gamesa developed the "RecyclableBlade", using soluble resins, fully recyclable
  • Vestas launched its "Circularity Roadmap" programme, aiming to recycle 100% of blades by 2030 via depolymerisation
  • WindEurope and the SET Alliance (SET-Plan, a European Commission initiative launched in 2007) promote effective recycling methods

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