“For this work, we didn\u2019t need to fully break down all the bonds and push the reaction to completion,” explained Baoming Zhao, who co-authored the paper. “As long as we can break the cross-linked network into smaller pieces, and they are melt processable, we can compound that with nylon and get a new composite.”<\/p>\n
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Left: wind turbine blade waste. Middle: treated and dried wind turbine blade glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP). Right: injection-molded plastic containing 70% recycled GFRP<\/p>\n
Washington State University<\/p>\n
The team’s method starts with cutting discarded turbine blades into two-inch blocks, and then shredding those into chips. These chips are soaked in a mild solution of zinc acetate (a low-toxicity organic salt) in pressurized, superheated water for two hours.<\/p>\n
The process allows for recovering intact glass fibers and resins, which can then be combined with melted thermoplastics (a material commonly used in milk bottles) and nylon plastic to produce higher grade composite materials. The composite recycled nylon plastic came out more than three times as strong, and eight times as stiff.<\/p>\n
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Turbine blades are chopped into blocks, shredded into chips, treated with a solution to recover fibers and resins, and then melted with thermoplastics to produce stronger materials<\/p>\n
Washington State University<\/p>\n
The researchers’ method has a couple more benefits. For one, the zinc acetate catalyst can simply be filtered and recovered for reuse. Secondly, this process can be applied to other common plastics like polypropylene, which is used in products like food containers, stationery, and toys.<\/p>\n
That could make used turbine blades valuable to plastic recycling plants, while utilizing a relatively environmentally friendly process. The researchers’ next step is to reduce the pressurization requirements in their method and make it even easier to apply at scale, and explore the development of recyclable materials that can be used to make new turbine blades.<\/p>\n
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Wind turbine blades are made from composite materials that can withstand harsh weather conditions for decades<\/p>\n
If you’re interested in this sort of story, you might want to check out other clever ideas for recycling wind turbine blades we’ve covered recently, including turning them into surfboards<\/a>, roads<\/a>, and floating docks for saunas on the water.<\/a> There are also recyclable blades currently doing the rounds (pun intended) from Siemens Gamesa<\/a> and GE<\/a>, and a bio-based resin could feature in future blades<\/a> to help them break down faster once they’re discarded.<\/p>\n