A fully recyclable wind turbine blade prototype has been developed and is ready for structural testing, said the consortium of researchers and industry leaders behind the project.

Led by French research center IRT Jules Verne, the ZEBRA project produced a 62-meter wind turbine blade using thermoplastic resin that is entirely recyclable. Arkema, CANOE, Engie, LM Wind Power, Owens Corning, and SUEZ are all partners on the project.

The 62 meter, 100% recyclable wind turbine blade developed by the ZEBRA consortium is now ready for structural and end-of-life testing (Courtesy: ZEBRA)

Wind turbines typically are 85% to 90% recyclable, with turbine blade material constituting the percentage that cannot be recycled, due to the nature of thermoset composites.

The U.S. Department of Energy, meanwhile, called for improved end-of-life applications and recycling methods for clean energy technologies in a recent report.

“The end-of-life thermoplastic composite blade material has high value in itself and can be readily utilized in other industries as material compounds but can also be depolymerized and the resin reused in the production of new blades,” LM Wind Power senior director of engineering excellence John Korsgaard said.

LM Wind Power will begin full-scale structural testing of the wind turbine blade at its Test and Validation Center in Denmark, which includes end-of-life recycling validation.

Last year, GE Renewable Energy committed to producing zero-waste wind turbine blades by 2030 through its subsidiary LM Wind Power. Nearly a third of LM Wind Power's carbon footprint comes from waste disposal. Industry-wide, 20-25% of materials purchased by turbine blade manufacturers do not go into the final product, the company said.

Sara Peach, the senior editor of Yale Climate Connections, said that power plants that burn natural gas are responsible for 437 to 758 grams of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt-hour "far more than even the most carbon-intensive wind turbine." Coal-fired power plants emit anywhere from 675 to 1,689 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour, depending on the exact technology.

International onshore and offshore wind energy developer Ørsted also committed to achieving a carbon-neutral footprint by 2040. The company promised to reuse, recycle or recover all the wind turbine blades in its global portfolio upon decommissioning.

“We want to help create a world that runs entirely on green energy, and we want to do it in a sustainable way. That includes moving towards more circular models where we reuse resources and save energy, thereby reducing carbon emissions. That is a big challenge, but we look forward to working on this challenge together with our supply chain,” said Mads Nipper, chief executive officer of Ørsted.

Ørsted has committed to not making use of landfilling for decommissioned wind turbine blades but will instead temporarily store the blades until they can be recycled.

In the coming decade, wind turbines will be deployed at an unprecedented pace. GWEC Market Intelligence forecasts that an additional 470 GW of onshore and offshore wind capacity will be installed globally between 2021 and 2025.