Q: Can wind turbines be recycled when they retire?

A: Yes! Options to recycle, repurpose and recover materials from wind turbine currently exist and are getting better all the time.

When a wind farm is decommissioned, between 85 and 94 percent of the turbine (by mass) can be recycled.

This high recovery rate is primarily due to the recyclable metals used in turbine construction, such as steel, aluminium, copper, and cast iron.

Australia has a robust scrap metal recycling industry, and the steel towers, copper cabling, and aluminium components that make up a wind turbine can be readily recycled in steelworks and foundries.

The turbine blades are more challenging to recycle as they are generally made of epoxy and composite materials like fibreglass or carbon fibre. The strong bond between these materials that enables them to withstand strong winds also makes them difficult to recycle.

But innovations in recycling methods are emerging all the time. For example, Vestas – the manufacturer of Wambo Wind Farm’s turbines – has invented a chemical technology to break down epoxy resin into virgin-grade materials, potentially enabling a new circular economy for turbine blades.

Read more at the Stanwell website.