The U.S. now hosts over 157,000 wind turbines. If each tower holds three blades, and each blade’s weight is about 65 glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP), that’s a lot of plastic. Even if each turbine lasts an estimated 30 or so years, those blades will still need to be reckoned with.
Critics challenging wind power often claim that the turbine blades can’t be recycled but are often buried, potentially leeching harmful pollutants into the groundwater.
Perhaps in an attempt to blunt that claim, a group of researchers has developed a method to break down the blades without harsh chemicals, then recover glass fibers that can be incorporated into new, stronger plastics, they report in the journal Resource, Conservation, and Recycling.
Left: wind turbine blade waste; Middle: treated and dried wind turbine blade glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP); Right: injection-molded plastic containing 70% recycled GFRP (photo by WSU). (Image Credit: WSU)
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