A laboratory study has converted discarded wind turbine blade material into compounds that improved several resin properties in tests, offering a possible reuse route as Europe expects retired blades to accumulate.
The process was tested in a study published Nov. 6 in Chem Circularity. WindEurope, the European wind industry’s trade group, expects annual blade retirements in Europe to reach 55,000 tonnes in 2030, compared with about 20,000 tonnes in 2025. The association says decommissioning in established wind markets such as Germany and Spain accounts for most of the expected increase.
Researchers used flash Joule heating, applying an electrical pulse that took blade material to about 2,000 degrees Celsius within seconds. The process yielded silicon carbide and graphene. In resin samples, a 0.1% by-weight addition of the recovered blend raised thermal diffusivity by 41%, a measure of how quickly heat moves through a material. The study also reports that a 0.3% addition improved resin stiffness and strength in tests.
Composite blades combine silica-containing fiberglass with carbon-rich polymer resin, a durable construction that complicates end-of-life processing. WindEurope says around 90% of a turbine’s mass is recyclable using established waste-management practices, while blades remain a challenge. The European wind industry’s voluntary landfill ban for blades took effect Jan. 1, 2026, and WindEurope has urged EU policymakers to formalize the commitment.
The study estimates that the process would produce 83% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than pyrolysis and 92% fewer than chemical dissolution. Its economic analysis puts potential profit at about $80 per ton. Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) reported that lab batches had reached 10 grams. Bing Deng, the study’s senior author and a chemical and environmental engineer at Tsinghua University, told C&EN that the lab cost estimate includes energy and materials but excludes shredding, equipment and laboratory expenses.
The team says the process remains at the laboratory stage and that it is seeking industrial collaborators.
