Value-added recycling strategies for decommissioned wind turbine blades: A review

Yue Wang, Biqin Dong, Jian-Guo Dai, Guannan Lu, Kaidi Peng and Yanshuai Wang

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025, vol. 222, issue C

Abstract: To meet global carbon reduction targets, countries are accelerating the development of wind energy through economic incentives. For example, the European Union plans to invest an estimated €800 billion in offshore wind by 2050, while China allocated approximately RMB 3.43 billion in wind power subsidies in 2024. These policy incentives have significantly driven the expansion of installed wind capacity, with the cumulative global capacity reaching 1133 GW by the end of 2024. However, this expansion has raised growing concerns regarding the disposal of decommissioned wind turbine blades (WTBs). The aim of this review is to propose that recycling strategies should be tailored for different parts of WTBs. Therefore, we classify them into eight categories based on material utilization. In addition, a novel standardized deconstruction method, “Vertical segmentation and horizontal slicing,” is proposed. Finally, the reuse potential of end-of-life WTBs in civil engineering and the main directions for future research are provided.

Keywords: Wind turbine blades (WTBs); Recycling; Value-added utilization; Fiber; Energy consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115950

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