Around 96% of a wind turbine is made from recyclable materials. Their outer shell, shafts, gearing and electrical components are typically made from steel, copper, aluminium, other precious metals and recyclable plastics.1
There are more than 8,000 parts to one wind turbine and they can have an operational lifespan of up to 25 years (most last around 20-25 years).2 They can mostly be recycled at the end of this working life and have increasingly been made from reused materials that have already been recycled.
The blades are made from different materials, most of which is fibreglass. The average blade on a typical onshore wind turbine measures around 165ft (50m) in length. However, there is a growing trend for taller turbines – often found offshore at sea – with blade spans of anywhere up to 260-290ft (80-90m) in length.2
Fibreglass is not totally recyclable. It’s non-biodegradable and made up of a composite of very fine strands of plastic and glass, which is extremely difficult to process at the point of recycling. Instead, it’s usually discarded as waste at landfills or incinerated.
However, while most first-generation commercial blades are being treated as waste, not all of them are destined for landfill. There are several innovative ways their raw materials are recycled to be used in other building materials or repurposed entirely in new structures.
Engineers and scientists have found a way to turn fibreglass into a key component used in the production of cement – an important material used in everyday construction. They are also finding ways to repurpose turbine blades as structural elements in their entirety – these include bike sheds in Denmark, noise barriers for highways in the US, ‘glamping pods’ across festival sites in Europe, or as parts of civil engineering projects, such as pedestrian footbridges, in Ireland.3
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