Published by Brian Gicheru Kinyua

Published by the Maritime Executive Board

Published by the Maritime Executive Board

Published by the Maritime Executive Board

Published by the Maritime Executive at 7:04 PM, October 14, 2021

With the accelerated growth of wind energy in Europe, the European energy company Vattenfall is committed to recycling wind turbine blades as part of a plan to reduce long-term environmental impact. One of the new issues facing the wind power industry is the disposal of blades, which may have a life cycle of 20 years but are made of complex composite materials.

Vattenfall currently operates approximately 50 onshore and offshore wind farms in five countries/regions, producing approximately one-third of the company's energy supply. In addition, they are building the largest offshore wind farms in Denmark and Scandinavia and Sweden's largest onshore wind farms. The company expects that wind energy will continue to be a growing part of its business and expand its operations in Europe and globally.

As part of its efforts to reduce environmental impact and dispose of all resources responsibly, Vattenfall announced an immediate commitment to implement a landfill ban on decommissioned wind turbine blades. In addition, the company promised to reuse, recycle or recycle 50% of wind turbine blades by 2025 and reach 100% by 2030.

"Despite the legislation of certain countries/regions permitting this, it is no longer acceptable to put composite waste from the wind energy industry in landfills," said Eva Philipp, head of wind energy in the environmental and sustainable development business area. "Achieving 50% recycling by 2025 and 100% recycling by 2030 is a huge challenge. Currently, there is no large-scale solution to this challenge, so major efforts are needed to achieve this. Long-term goal. We will participate in and provide blades to research programs to promote further technological innovation and testing of more advanced recycling technologies."

Vattenfall works with others to support research on the recycling of composite waste materials and promote the use of recycled composite materials in new products. In addition, there will be a long-term approach to focus on all aspects of the circular economy, such as designing to support the recyclability of wind blades, thereby increasing the value of recycled materials at the end of their useful life. 

“Achieving 100% recycling is a joint effort and all stakeholders need to cooperate. In this regard, Vattenfall wants to make a significant contribution. As the wind energy industry continues to develop to provide fossil-free energy on a global scale, Vattenfall Committed to promoting a circular economy to reduce the environmental impact of the entire product life cycle," said Helene Biström, head of the wind energy business area.

Whether wind turbine blades can be fully recycled depends on factors such as technological development, policy support, and government incentives. In order to promote companies to provide sustainable end-of-life solutions for wind turbine blades, Vattenfall will continue to increase its participation in cross-industry discussions at the national and EU levels.

Vattenfall's statement was issued after Orsted's similar statement, which also announced in June that it would no longer send worn or damaged blades to landfills. The company is also studying technologies to recover, reuse or recycle composite materials from blades. They promise to store any blades until they develop a technology for reusable components.

Published by Brian Gicheru Kinyua on October 25, 2021 at 9:42 PM

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Published by the Maritime Executive at 7:38 PM, October 25, 2021

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