The EU-funded REFRESH project (Smart dismantling, sorting and REcycling of glass Fibre REinforced composite from wind power Sector through Holistic approach) aims to build a circular and self-sustainable value chain for the glass fibre-reinforced composites used in wind turbine blades.

There are three steps to their process:

1. Collect information on decommissioned blades and select the most suitable recycling method, taking into account the technical parameters of the blade, logistics and the current market demand for the end products of the recycling process.
2. Improve existing recycling technologies. They are focusing on mechanical and thermo-chemical treatment of waste but will also explore further processing and re-use options.
3. Design a range of new products using the outputs of the various recycling processes.

The project is now in its fourth year and is making progress.

• It has demonstrated that recycled glass fibres from old blades can be used in the manufacture of new ones.

This relates to their work on thermal recycling. Gjenkraft uses thermal technology to recover long fibres from blades. The project partners have converted glass fibres recovered through this process into a nonwoven mat. The mat was used to manufacture the inner and outer skin of a section of blade, and tests so far suggest that its properties are similar to those of skins made from virgin glass fibre.

This is one of a few recent examples of materials recovered from blades being used to make new blades and proves that full circularity for wind energy is possible.

• One project partner is developing applications for the secondary raw materials resulting from the REFRESH mechanical recycling process and exploring the use of recycled glass fibre in 3D printed concrete structures.
• Another project partner is designing new products from precisely cut blade parts.

See their press release for more details!