Due to the large-scale renovation and replacement of wind turbines, hundreds of obsolete turbine blades will be piled up in the coming years. The turbine blades, consisting largely of composite, are very difficult to recycle. Thanks to a newly developed sustainable solution by SUEZ and Extreme Eco Solutions, in collaboration with Het Groene Brein and the province of Flevoland, these blades will now get a second life as paving stones. One wind turbine is good for as much as 300 m2 of paving. Early next year, it will be possible for the first time to walk on the tiles made of recycled composite.
Turbine blades consist largely of composite. This fibreglass-reinforced plastic is light, strong and has a long lifespan. This is why this material is widely used in large structures such as wind turbine blades, ship hulls and train carriages. The disadvantage is that the material is very difficult to recycle. As a result, the material is incinerated or dumped with residual waste in an unsustainable way.
With many older wind turbines being retrofitted in the coming years, SUEZ and Extreme Eco Solutions are coming up with a solution for high-quality recycling of discarded turbine blades.
Collaborating on innovation
The Green Brain - an organisation that promotes sustainable projects by connecting scientists and organisations - put waste and resource management specialist SUEZ in touch with Extreme Eco Solutions. This startup has developed a solution to reduce turbine blades and process the composite that remains into high-quality (ornamental) tiles and paving. Together with Flevoland province, the partners are working on a pilot to arrive at a concrete, commercially successful product. SUEZ takes care of the supply, transport and reduction of the material, Extreme Eco Solutions produces the tiles. From the Circular Flevoland Platform, which supports entrepreneurs in making circular initiatives successful, SUEZ, Extreme Eco Solutions and the province of Flevoland will work together to further develop this new chain.
Fully and endlessly recyclable
Early next year, the partners will lay a demonstration pad in Flevoland with (pavement) tiles made of 85 per cent composite and 15 per cent other material. The tiles look the same as regular tiles, but they are five times as light as well as completely and endlessly recyclable. That weight in particular is interesting for use on parking roofs and roof gardens, for example. Sebastiaan Verheijen of Extreme Eco Solutions has been working for several years on finding a solution for processing composite: "After an extensive process, we managed to develop a technique that allows us to process the glass fibre-reinforced plastic into tiles with very favourable properties. I already had contacts with SUEZ and they always went very well. So in this, too, SUEZ was a logical and reliable partner to really roll out the product. We are now even able to process the composite into window sills, kitchen worktops and tombstones. Moreover, we can take the stones back and recycle them almost endlessly."
Circular solutions
SUEZ is always looking for partners to make waste solutions circular. Paul Valster, Director New Business at SUEZ: "This collaboration is a great example of this: coming up with concrete products from recycled material in co-creation with partners. This is how we are committed to a circular economy, in which raw materials are brought back into production and consumption chains again and again. Especially as we expect a boom in wind turbine blades in the near future, this sustainable solution is more than welcome."
Source: SUEZ
