TNO, in collaboration with several partners, is working on the three-year CIRCLE4WIN project to develop a commercially viable method for recycling composite wind turbine blades. In addition to the recycling process itself, the project also focuses on optimising the logistics process for large-scale application.
While 90% of the wind turbine is already recycled, the plastic composite turbine blades still pose a challenge. The CIRCLE4WIN project involves thermally decomposing to work on a circular wind turbine blade.
This process separated the glass fibres by heating in an oxygen-free furnace (pyrolysis), followed by a combustion step with oxygen where the resin serves as fuel for the process. The reclaimed glass must be made suitable as a raw material for newly manufactured glass fibre, to be used in commercial recyclable plastic products and wind turbine blades.
The consortium is part of the GROW programme and consists of parties covering the entire value chain and development: Afvalstoffen Terminal Moerdijk, Sibelco Group, Envalior, IX Renewables, Suzlon Group, D&E Holding, and TNO, with support from the TKI MOOI subsidy programme.
Read more at https://www.tno.nl/en/newsroom/2025/03/project-recycling-wind-turbine-blades/
