The European wind industry is making major strides in its commitment to reuse, recover, or recycle 100% of decommissioned blades and scaling up sustainable end-of-life solutions. The industry demonstrates its leadership through innovation, collaboration, and policy engagement. But challenges remain, especially around unclear waste classifications, the lack of harmonised EU regulations, and limited cost competitiveness of recycling technologies.
Yesterday WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson participated in the European Commission’s Clean Industrial Dialogue on Circularity. The event is rooted in the EU Clean Industrial Deal which aims to make the world leader in circular economy by 2030.
The Industrial Dialogue was jointly hosted by Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy and Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.
by Type (Scheduled Maintenance, Unscheduled Maintenance), Location type (Onshore, Offshore), Turbine Connectivity (Grid-connected, Standalone), and Region
Download free sample pagesSustainability and circularity are part of the wind industry’s DNA. Up to 90% of a wind turbine’s mass is already recyclable, thanks to well-established recycling processes for steel, cables, concrete, and other materials.
But the European wind industry wants to go further. And it is heading towards full recyclability. The final frontier will be to solve the challenges on wind turbine blade and permanent magnet recyclability.
Recycle, recover, reuse
In 2021 the industry committed to re-use, recover, or recycle 100% of decommissioned blades. Since then, recycling technologies have advanced significantly, making it possible to convert the composite materials inside wind turbine blades into market-quality products. Various cross-sector collaborations have emerged to pilot such new technologies. This is a significant step forward, even if cost competitiveness remains a hurdle.
Where full circularity is not economically viable yet, recovery – extracting energy or materials from waste – is a way forward. Cement co-processing, for example, offers a sustainable and circular solution. It recovers end-of-life composite materials, while simultaneously reducing replacing fossil energy sources in cement manufacturing. Each tonne of composite waste treated in a cement facility saves up to 1 tonne of CO2 compared to traditional waste incineration methods.
Reusing and upcycling blades also offer practical and visible alternatives to landfills. Across Europe, old wind turbine blades are being transformed into new, useful structures. In Ireland, BladeBridge turns them into pedestrian bridges. In the Netherlands, BladeMade repurposes them into playgrounds and benches. In Sweden, Vattenfall is using blades as part of a parking garage, while Acciona in Spain is recycling blade material for hybrid solar-wind farms. These projects show that even before full recycling becomes the norm, reuse can keep materials in use and out of landfills.
Low waste volumes will increase
Thousands of smaller wind turbines will reach the end of their operational life in the coming years, resulting in a noticeable increase in the volume of waste—particularly from blades. By 2030, Europe is expected to generate over 50 kilotonnes of end-of-life (EoL) blade waste, with around 14,000 blades projected to be dismantled—amounting to between 40,000 and 60,000 tonnes of material. Germany alone will account for approximately 23,300 tonnes, followed by Spain with 16,000 tonnes and Italy with 2,300 tonnes. Even then, blade waste remains only a marginal portion of Europe’s overall waste streams.Yet waste management companies are getting ready for the expected blade waste volumes. Companies are building new recycling facilities. For example, Business in Wind is opening a large new site in the Netherlands. Caremag is investing €216 million in a rare earths recycling plant in France. And EnergyLOOP is launching a blade recycling plant in Spain. These investments show that the sector is serious about managing its
