Aker Offshore Wind and a Scottish research team are leading a £2m wind turbine blade recycling pilot in the UK after winning a UK Government grant.
The three-year pilot will develop a commercially viable solution, overseen by industry lead Aker Offshore Wind, trade body Composites UK, and researchers at the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Composites Group and Lightweight Manufacturing Centre.
The centre is part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland Group.
Other academic and industry partners include Nottingham University, waste management company SUEZ, composite distributor GRP Solutions and composite part manufacturer Cubis.
The project is set up to commercialise a “revolutionary method” developed by the University of Strathclyde to separate the glass-fibre and resin components in composites and recover the glass-fibre component which can then be reprocessed, moulded, and reused in other industries, such as the motor trade and the construction industry.
Innovate UK, the UK Government’s innovation agency, has awarded £1.3m to the project, with Aker Offshore Wind contributing more than £500,000.
At present, when giant turbine blades reach the end of their working lives, there are only two options for managing the waste: send them to a landfill or to waste-to-energy plants where they are combusted at significant energy cost.
Waste from wind turbine blades alone is expected to reach around two million tonnes globally by 2050, while UK volumes of composite waste already exceed 100,000 tonnes per year.
Aker Offshore Wind has pledged its support to trade body WindEurope’s call for a Europe-wide landfill ban on decommissioned wind turbine blades by 2025 and considers this project a crucial step towards setting a new standard for the industry.
Sian Lloyd-Rees, managing director of Aker Offshore Wind UK, said: “This project will be an important piece in our drive to accelerate the move to net zero waste and emissions and demonstrates Aker Offshore Wind’s commitment to sustainability across the lifecycle of a wind project; all while investing in Scotland and the UK to build a more sustainable future for decades to come.”
Malcolm Forsyth, sustainability manager at Composites UK and overall project leader, said: “This project is a vital step towards establishing a commercial recycling route for composite materials in the UK and beyond, covering both wind turbine blades and several other applications in the construction and transport sectors.”