After wind turbine blades generated renewable energy for many years, materials can be reused in finished products. This coaster is proof of this!

Why? Business in Wind wants to show something tangible, because blades can also be recycled responsibly!

So put your on it, watch this vlog and then read more about it.

Dismanteling

In the past decades, tens of thousands of wind turbines have been installed worldwide, all of which will be dismantled after a long working life.

The core-business of Business in Wind is the disassembly of wind turbines and where possible relocate them, to give them a second life. If the wind turbine cannot be reused for a second life, our goal is to recycle them as best as possible. Therefore, we are always actively looking for sustainable solutions.

Wind turbine blades

The recycling challenge lies mainly in the turbine blades, which consist largely of composite. This composite is light, strong, has a long lifespan but is also very difficult to recycle. The easiest way is for the material to be burned or dumped in an unsustainable way with the residual waste. 

So there is a clear need for large-scale solutions.

Opportunities

Extreme Eco Solutions has been working on finding a solution for composite processing for several years. After an extensive process, they succeeded in developing a technique to process the composite into usable new products.

Business in Wind commissioned this company to create a series of coasters to hand around. With a base of shredded and ground composite – taken from a wind turbine blade – supplemented by a binder of water-based acrylic resin, this new product was neatly delivered.

But there are many more possibilities, think of; wall- or floor tile, desktop, railroad sleepers, cutting board, sink, works of art, road furniture, retaining wall, kitchen top, tombstone, and so on.

Circular

In theory, this recycling method creates a fully circular economy in which raw materials are continually reintroduced into production chains. And that is where our world needs to go!

We at Business in Wind want to and must actively contribute to this and prevent materials ending up in a landfill.