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Recycling wind
Wind turbine blades typically consist of reinforcement fibres, such as glass fibres or carbon fibres; a plastic polymer, such as polyester or epoxy; sandwich core materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), PET or balsa wood; and bonded joints, coating (polyurethane), and lightning conductors.
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At the moment, there are three possible routes for dismantled wind turbine blades: landfill, incineration or recycling. The first option is largely on its way out with countries seeking to reduce landfill mass. Germany, for example, introduced a landfill disposal ban on glass fibre reinforced plastics (GRP) in June 2005, due to their high (30%) organics content such as resin and wood.
The most common route is incineration. In so-called combined heat and power (CHP) plants, the heat from incineration is used to create electricity, as well as to feed a district heating system. However, 60% of the scrap is left behind as ash after incineration. Due to the presence of inorganic loads in composites, this ash may be pollutant, and is, depending on the type and post-treatment options, either dumped at a landfill or recycled as a substitute construction material. The inorganic loads also lead to the emission of hazardous flue gasses in that the small glass fibre spares may cause problems to the flue gas cleaning steps, mainly at the dust filter devices.
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The alternative is recycling – either material recycling, or product recycling in the form of re-powering where old turbines are replaced by newer, more efficient ones. At the moment, however, there are few established methods for the recycling of wind turbine blades, and only 30% of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) waste can be re-used to form new FRP, with most going to the cement industry as filler material.
http://www.reinforcedplastics.com/view/319/recycling-wind/
...
At the moment, there are three possible routes for dismantled wind turbine blades: landfill, incineration or recycling. The first option is largely on its way out with countries seeking to reduce landfill mass. Germany, for example, introduced a landfill disposal ban on glass fibre reinforced plastics (GRP) in June 2005, due to their high (30%) organics content such as resin and wood.
The most common route is incineration. In so-called combined heat and power (CHP) plants, the heat from incineration is used to create electricity, as well as to feed a district heating system. However, 60% of the scrap is left behind as ash after incineration. Due to the presence of inorganic loads in composites, this ash may be pollutant, and is, depending on the type and post-treatment options, either dumped at a landfill or recycled as a substitute construction material. The inorganic loads also lead to the emission of hazardous flue gasses in that the small glass fibre spares may cause problems to the flue gas cleaning steps, mainly at the dust filter devices.
...
The alternative is recycling – either material recycling, or product recycling in the form of re-powering where old turbines are replaced by newer, more efficient ones. At the moment, however, there are few established methods for the recycling of wind turbine blades, and only 30% of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) waste can be re-used to form new FRP, with most going to the cement industry as filler material.
http://www.reinforcedplastics.com/view/319/recycling-wind/
