Gone with the wind: The life and death of a wind turbine rotor blade

Of all the components of a wind turbine blade, the most complicated and difficult to manage are the glass and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites (GFRPs and CFRPs), which, as their names suggest, are glass and carbon fibers surrounded by a polymer matrix, such as an epoxy resin. Mechanical recovery of carbon or glass fibers, to thermally reform them into new products, is only suitable for thermoplastic matrices, while most of them are thermoset: when they are cured, the polymers become cross-linked and undergo an irreversible process that makes recycling difficult. According to Bokelmann, the method is still not economically satisfying to become a commercially recycling process. A sustainable process is needed for dealing with the blades at the end of the service life of wind turbines to maximize the environmental benefits of wind power.