HOW IT WORKS
A wing on its side
When wind flows across a blade, the air pressure on one side drops. That creates lift and drag, and because the lift is stronger, the rotor spins, says the US Department of Energy.
See the partsWHAT THE SOURCES SAY
The long life
of a blade.
A blade works like an aeroplane wing.
Modern blades are long, light and built mostly from fibreglass. That makes them strong in the wind for decades, and stubborn to break down when the first generation of wind farms comes to the end of its life.
Follow an old blade Read the short answer
01 Lift turns the rotor02 Fibreglass keeps it light03 Old blades need a routeFrom hilltop to recycling yard
THE SHORT ANSWER
Easy to spin,
hard to unmake.
The steel, copper and gears already have recycling routes.
The blades are the part still being worked out.
MATERIALS
Mostly fibreglass
Blades are composites: glass or carbon fibres in a resin. The mix lets blades be lighter and longer, but it is hard to separate again at the end of their life.
See the numbers
END OF LIFE
Ground, burned or reused
A UK research programme found mechanical recycling and cement kiln co-processing are the only industrial-scale routes for glass fibre blade waste this decade.
Compare the routesWHERE CAN AN OLD BLADE GO?
Five routes,
five stages of readiness.
Pick a route to see what it does and how ready it is. The bar shows how close the sources say each route is to handling blades at industrial scale today.
Based on the National Composites Centre's SusWIND review (2022), WindEurope (2021), the US Department of Energy and IEA Wind Task 45 (2023).
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Most of a turbine recycles.
The blades are the rest.
One figure on what can already be recycled,
one on how much blade waste Europe expects.
RECYCLABLE MASS · WINDEUROPE
Share of a turbine's total mass that can already be recycled
85–90<small>%</small>
Steel, cement, copper wire, electronics and gearing already have established recycling. The blades, made of composites, are the challenging part. The UK's ORE Catapult gives the same 85 to 90 percent figure.
BLADE WASTE · WINDEUROPE
Blades expected to reach end of life in Europe each year by 2030
52,000<small> tonnes</small>
WindEurope expected around 25,000 tonnes a year by 2025, and said the annual volume could double to 52,000 tonnes by 2030 as older wind farms are decommissioned.
WindEurope gives the standard lifetime of an onshore wind farm as around 20 to 25 years, and says Austria, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands already had landfill bans for blades in 2021.
FOUR THINGS A BLADE DOES
More than
just spinning.
The US Department of Energy's guide to a wind turbine shows how the blades work with the rest of the machine, from the hub to the pitch system.
- Catch the windMost turbines have three blades. A typical modern land-based blade is over 52 metres long, and the largest offshore blades are about 107 metres.
- Make liftLike a wing, the blade lowers the air pressure on one side. Lift beats drag, and the rotor turns.
- Turn the generatorThe blades fit into a hub, which together form the rotor. It drives the generator directly or through a gearbox.
- Feather in a stormThe pitch system changes the blade angle. In very high winds it can feather the blades so they stop pushing the rotor round.
WHY BLADES ARE TRICKY
The strength
is the problem.
Blades are built from layers of glass or carbon fibre locked in resin. The US Department of Energy says blades are typically 50 percent glass or carbon fibre composite by weight. The same qualities that make them light and stiff make them hard to take apart.
The same kinds of composites turn up in aircraft, boats, cars, bicycles, skis and surfboards, so methods for recycling blades could help other industries too. ORE Catapult estimates 2.5 million tonnes of composites are already in use in the wind sector.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
Frequently asked
What are wind turbine blades made of?
Mostly fibreglass, according to the US Department of Energy. More precisely they are composites: glass or carbon fibres held in a polymer resin, which makes them light, stiff and long.
How long is a wind turbine blade?
The US Department of Energy says a typical modern land-based blade is over 52 metres (170 feet) long, and the largest offshore turbine blades are 107 metres, about the length of a football field.
How long do wind turbines last?
WindEurope gives the standard lifetime of an onshore wind farm as around 20 to 25 years. The UK's ORE Catapult uses a 25-year lifecycle in its planning.
Can wind turbine blades be recycled?
Yes, though not easily. A UK programme run by the National Composites Centre with ORE Catapult found mechanical recycling and cement kiln co-processing are the viable industrial-scale routes this decade. Pyrolysis is being scaled up and other methods are still in research.
Do old blades go to landfill?
Some do in parts of the world. WindEurope said in 2021 that Austria, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands already banned landfilling blades, and called for a Europe-wide ban by 2025.
SOURCES
Where the facts come from
Each figure on this page comes from the sources below. Check them for the full detail and context.
- US Department of Energy: Explore a Wind Turbine (text version)
- US Department of Energy: Wind turbine blade recycling and upcycling with pyrolysis (2022)
- WindEurope: Wind industry calls for Europe-wide ban on landfilling turbine blades (2021)
- National Composites Centre: Viable routes to recycling wind turbine blades found in SusWIND (2022)
- IEA Wind Task 45: Blade end-of-life treatments, state of the art (2023)
- ORE Catapult and partners: Sustainable decommissioning, wind turbine blade recycling