Blade circularity
Vestas unveils circularity solution to end landfill of turbine blades
A breakthrough in the CETEC project has resulted in a new chemical process that makes epoxy-based turbine blades circular, without the need for changing the design or composition of blade material.
Through a newly established value chain, supported by Nordic recycling leader Stena Recycling and global epoxy manufacturer Olin, Vestas will now focus on scaling up the novel chemical disassembly process into a commercial solution. Once mature, the solution will signal the beginning of a circular economy for all existing, and future epoxy-based turbine blades.
For regular updates, we are pleased to introduce our newsletter, where you'll receive information about pilot project milestones, relevant media coverage, and updates on events featuring Vestas representatives
Sign up for our sustainability newsletter
Until now, the wind industry has believed that turbine blade material calls for a new approach to design and manufacture to be either recyclable, or beyond this, circular, at end of life. Going forward, we can now view old epoxy-based blades as a source of raw material. Once this new technology is implemented at scale, legacy blade material currently sitting in landfill, as well as blade material in active windfarms, can be disassembled, and re-used. This signals a new era for the wind industry and accelerates our journey towards achieving circularity.
Lisa Ekstrand, Vice President and Head of Sustainability at Vestas
Learn more about the partnership between Vestas, Olin, and Stena Recyling and how the circularity solution works in the video below.
The newly discovered chemical process shows that epoxy-based turbine blades, whether in operation or sitting in landfill, can be turned into a source of raw material to potentially build new turbine blades.
As the chemical process relies on widely available chemicals, it is highly compatible for industrialisation, and can therefore be scaled up quickly. This innovation would not have been possible without the ground-breaking CETEC collaboration between industry and academia enabling our progress until this point
Mie Elholm Birkbak, Specialist, Innovation & Concepts at Vestas
Setting up a circular value chain
