Wind turbines are symbols of clean energy, yet the looming issue of blade waste threatens to undermine their green reputation. Can a circular approach make wind energy truly regenerative?
From waste to renewal
Wind energy plays a vital role in the transition to a low-carbon future, supported by global treaties like the Paris Agreement. However, the life cycle of wind turbines presents a significant sustainability challenge: their blades, made from complex composite materials, are difficult to recycle and often end up in landfills. With over 40 million tonnes of waste expected by 2050, the industry must shift from a linear “take-make-dispose” model to a circular one that recycles and reuses materials throughout the turbine’s life cycle.
This issue is critical not just from an environmental standpoint but also from an economic perspective. Current waste practices perpetuate reliance on finite resources such as petroleum and silica, which undermines the wind sector’s long-term sustainability. Moreover, disruptions in supply chains due to political or environmental crises further emphasise the importance of reducing material dependency.
The complexity of the value chain, involving multiple stakeholders from manufacturers to recyclers, complicates efforts to make the wind industry fully circular. Collaborative approaches, material innovations, and policy interventions are essential to making wind energy regenerative.
At Bax, we leverage our extensive experience in renewable energy and circular economy strategies to collaborate with industry stakeholders in addressing the blade waste problem from multiple angles. Our goal is to transform wind energy into a fully regenerative power source by embedding circularity into every stage of the blade’s lifecycle.
Finding alternative material solutions and closing the material and energy cycle is not only a matter of environmental sustainability but of reducing the wind sector’s strong dependency on materials and associated externalities, ultimately improving resilience in the long term.
– Johanna Reiland, Innovation Consultant
The key challenges to circularity in wind energy
Challenge 1: Difficult-to-recycle materials
Wind turbine blades are predominantly made from composite materials reinforced with thermoset resins. These materials offer the necessary strength and durability but are notoriously difficult to recycle due to their complex chemical bonds. As a result, many decommissioned blades end up in landfills or are incinerated, leading to environmental pollution and resource wastage.
Advancements in material science are paving the way for more recyclable alternatives. For instance, thermoplastic resins or novel thermosets with reversible crosslinks can replace traditional thermosets, allowing blades to be melted down and reshaped at the end of their life. Additionally, research into bio-based and biodegradable materials offers promising avenues for sustainable blade production.
Challenge 2: Lack of industry standards and data transparency for recycling
The absence of standardised materials and processes hampers recycling efforts. Without material passports or detailed information on blade composition, recycling facilities struggle to process these components effectively, leading to downcycling or disposal.
Establishing industry-wide standards and improving data sharing are crucial steps towards circularity. Transparency in material composition enables better end-of-life strategies and encourages innovation in recycling technologies. The introduction of the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) means wind turbines must now meet stringent sustainability criteria. This regulation’s Digital Product Passports will ensure that material data is readily accessible, unlocking new opportunities for reuse, refurbishment, and recycling.
Standardising materials and manufacturing processes across the industry will also streamline recycling efforts and promote circular design principles.
Challenge 3: Fragmented value chain and limited collaboration
The wind energy sector involves a complex network of manufacturers, operators, recyclers, and policymakers. A lack of coordination among these stakeholders hinders the development of cohesive circular strategies.
Building strong partnerships across the value chain is essential. Collaborative platforms can foster communication between manufacturers, recyclers, and policymakers, enabling the development of integrated solutions. Joint initiatives can accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and create new business models centred around circularity that benefit the entire industry.
Addressing the circularity of wind turbine installations at their end-of-life not only presents technical challenges but also limits our ability to achieve circularity goals beyond recovery and recycling. Shifting focus to the circular design of materials, components, and value chains can achieve positive environmental and social impacts and unlock economic opportunities.
– Johanna Reiland, Innovation Consultant
Transforming wind energy through circularity
Transitioning to a circular economy in wind energy means rethinking design, production, and end-of-life processes. By reducing resource dependency, minimising waste, and improving material recovery, the industry can significantly lower its environmental footprint and strengthen its resilience against supply chain disruptions and material scarcity.
Multidisciplinary solutions
- Technological innovation: Investing in research for recyclable composites, modular designs, and advanced recycling technologies can extend the lifespan of turbines and simplify recovery processes. Emerging technologies, like thermoplastic resins and bio-based materials, offer promising alternatives to traditional, non-recyclable components.
- Market developments: Introducing material passports and material class labelling as industry standards will significantly increase the use of recycled materials in new turbine designs. Embedding circularity throughout the value chain—from design to end-of-life—requires close collaboration across all stakeholders. This approach ensures effectiveness over multiple lifecycles. Forming strategic alliances across industries such as aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding can drive innovation and mitigate risks, as these sectors face similar recycling and circularity challenges.
Creating a strong secondary market for recycled materials will allow the wind industry to reduce its reliance on virgin resources, thereby enhancing circularity and sustainability.
- Policy support: Simplifying waste treatment and export regulations is vital to scaling up recycling efforts in the wind energy sector. WindEurope’s push for a ban on landfilling turbine blades by 2025 is a crucial first step in reducing waste. Higher gate fees or bans on landfills and incineration will force the industry to expand recycling capacities and promote circular design from the outset.
The Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation, with its Digital Product Passports, encourages transparency, while extensions to the EU Taxonomy and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) would further enhance the cost-competitiveness of recycled over virgin materials, driving circular practices industry-wide.
How Bax is tackling this topic: your guide to a circular wind energy future
At Bax, we help stakeholders of the composite value chain to understand the underlying challenges and support them in:
- Strategic planning: Understanding the underlying specifications and mechanisms that prevent the circularity of the material stream is integral to developing an impactful circularity strategy.
- Technology and practices scouting: Technologies and practices that aim to increase the circularity of composites are present throughout the entire product lifecycle. However, to achieve the greatest net benefits for the entire system, they must be considered alongside other practices.
- Collaborative networks: Collaboration upstream and downstream, as well as across sectors, is at the core of circularity. Ultimately, the solutions to composite circularity will not be achieved by one stakeholder alone but by a strong network of stakeholders.
If you want to learn more about blade circularity, check out our free PDF.
Do you want to make wind turbine blades circular?
We help composite value chain partners from wind energy—and other sectors—gain the knowledge, resources, and contacts to kick off and implement circular practices. We guide industry leaders in circular transformations by uniting the right partners, providing insights on risks and opportunities, and defining and monitoring the circular innovation processes that create impact. We also have experience building European-wide community networks that facilitate stakeholder collaboration, knowledge exchange, and capacity building.
