A pilot plant for recycling windmill blades is being built in Groningen, the northeastern province of the Netherlands. Nowadays, recycling composites, such as wind turbine blades, is not new technology, but new to include all chains to do it.

Boosting renewable energy is one of the solutions for reacting higher energy price in the Netherlands. In Groningen, especially, many windmill is being produced here. However, there are unclear solution for decommissioned wind turbine blades. End up in a landfill or in an incinerator is the method for waste of windmill. Moreover, it still rarely reused for high-end applications.

A circular recycling process has been set up in Eemshaven in Groningen, which covers everything from dismantling these rotor blades to reusing the raw materials. It can be used in 3D printers and countless other applications. An entire chain is being set up: from dismantling, the logistics, the processing of the composites, to making new raw materials and doing research into high-end applications: it’s all happening in Groningen.

The business case was presented and handed over to the Groningen Provincial Executive member IJzebrand Rijzebol in Nijlicht in Eemshaven in February 2022.

CC by Flickr