Vestas has unveiled an alternative to scrapping decommissioned wind turbine blades, which harnesses a newly discovered chemical process to ensure old blades can be recycled. 

The Danish turbine giant said the breakthrough could eliminate the need to redesign or dispose of epoxy resin-based blades at landfill sites at the end of their working life.  
The use of epoxy resin - a lightweight carbon fibre binder renowned for its strength and water resistance - has long been standard practice in the wind turbine industry, but the material has proven near-impossible to break down for recycling.

Wind turbines face an unsustainable dilemma: after decades of producing renewable energy, their seemingly indestructible blades often end up in garbage dumps, left to remain for years.

A new process developed by Vestas as part of the Circular Economy for Thermosets Epoxy Composites (CETEC) initiative alongside chemical manufacturer Olin, Aarhus University, The Danish Technological Institute, and Stena Recycling, has worked out how to use widely available chemicals to break down epoxy resin into virgin-grade materials.
Vestas said the new method would ultimately allow it to produce new wind energy infrastructure from recycled turbine blades.

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