To End Wind Power Waste, Siemens Gamesa Designs Recyclable Blades

Siemens Gamesa recently announced it began manufacturing recyclable offshore wind turbine blades, called RecyclableBlades, for commercial use. Reuters reported the Spanish turbine maker claims it is the first to construct these types of turbine blades. Wind turbine blades are quite large and Siemens Gamesa’s can measure as long as 125 meters. However, a turbine blade is typically unable to be recycled and goes to large landfills once it reaches the end of its lifespan. Environmentalists took notice of the amount of waste coming from wind turbine blades and a 2017 University of Cambridge study estimates 43 million tons of waste could come from turbine blades in 2050. To make a wind turbine blade, a mix of glass or carbon fibers and sticky epoxy resin is heated. This combines the materials and provides a strong, lightweight composite material, but ultimately makes it difficult to separate the materials.