Wind turbine blade recycling plants announced

A Danish company has announced plans to establish a wind turbine blade recycling facility by the end of next year with five more across Europe by the end of 2030.

Continuum is backed by the Danish venture capital firm Climentum Capital and has secured a grant from the UK’s Offshore Wind Growth Partnership. The company’s first plant will be in Esbjerg and is expected to be operational by the end of 2024. It plans to start taking end-of-life blades by the end of 2023.

A second facility is being lined up in the UK followed by four more in France, Germany, Spain, and Turkey. It is reported that each factory will have the capacity to recycle more than 36 000 tonnes of end-of-life turbine blades per year. The blades will be processed into composite panels for the construction industry and products including industrial doors and kitchen worktops.

Martin Dronfield, chief commercial officer of Continuum Holding and md of Continuum Composite Transformation (UK), says: ‘We need wind energy operators & developers across Europe to take a step back and work with us to solve the bigger picture challenge. Continuum is offering them a service which won’t just give their business complete and sustainable circularity to their operations but help protect the planet in the process’.

Nicolas Derrien, ceo of Continuum Holdings, adds that the company is offering ‘a recycling solution for the blades and a construction product that will outperform most other existing construction materials and be infinitely recyclable, and with the lowest carbon footprint in its class’.