Page 13 from: Recycling International May/June issue 2023
TRENDS & UPDATES
13recyclinginternational.com | May/June | 2023
RECYCLING WIND TURBINE PARTS ‘WORTH
£10BN TO THE UK’
A grouping of Scottish recyclers, energy providers and aca-
demics believes £10 billion (EUR 11.4 billion) could be gener-
ated for the UK economy within a decade from the reuse,
refurbishment and re-engineering of used wind turbine parts.
The newly
formed
Coalition for
Wind Industry
Circularity
(CWIC) says
building capaci-
ty to refurbish
wind turbine
parts in the UK
could also gen-
erate more than
20 000 UK jobs
by 2035 and
prevent more
than 800 000 tonnes of parts from being scrapped. Analysis com-
missioned by the coalition found around 120 000 wind turbines
are expected to be operational across the UK, Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Spain and Sweden by 2035.
CWIC comprises the University of Strathclyde, the National
Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), energy company SSE
Renewables, and Renewable Parts, a refurbishment specialist in
the wind energy industry.
According to its new analysis, a UK supply chain capable of refur-
bishing just ten out of the thousands of parts which make up a
single wind turbine could be worth almost £10bn to the economy
between 2025 and 2035. Building the capabilities in the UK to
service more wind turbine parts as well as more foreign markets
would increase this potential economic impact significantly. CWIC
also released the most the result of research into the barriers to
circularity in the wind industry. It found most organisations were
supportive of the circular economy but struggled with implemen-
tation, and the new initiative seeks to drive forward a solution.
At a launch event for the coalition, the main manufacturers of
wind turbines globally, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, GE Renewables,
Nordex and Enercon, came together in Glasgow to participate in
a panel discussion chaired by chief executive of trade body
Scottish Renewables, Claire Mack.
Sir Jim McDonald, principal of the University of Strathclyde, says:
‘Collectively, Strathclyde and NMIS will leverage the knowledge
and expertise gained from delivering several large-scale joint
government-industry-academia programmes across sectors to
maximise the pace and scale of impact from working with part-
ners to support the nationally important wind sector.’
James Barry, ceo of Renewables Parts adds: ‘Our collective com-
mitment to net zero means parts reuse must become the norm,
not the exception. By rigorously applying circular economy phi-
losophy, we can develop the technology to routinely remanufac-
ture used parts and reduce carbon intensity.’
UK BACKS MOBILE RECYCLING TRUCKS
Plans for a mobile battery recycling system have
been boosted by investment of nearly £2 million
(EUR 2.2 million) from the UK Government’s inno-
vation agency.
Recyclus, in partnership with the University of
Birmingham, will design and build a prototype sys-
tem for a mobile recycling truck capable of handling
the range of full Li-ion battery modules. The main
unit will be designed to accept batteries on an indi-
vidual basis or in batches and will implement a new
industry standard.
The innovative trucks will be based on Recyclus’
existing technology for industrial-scale battery recy-
cling which is capable of safely dealing with more
than the five types of Li-ion battery chemistry in any
combination. Recyclus plans to operate the trucks in
three size options ranging from 7.5 to 16 tonnes
which will be capable of processing between 0.5 and
two tonnes of Li-ion batteries per hour. The
University’s Advanced Materials & Processing
Laboratory will provide 3D printing techniques,
incorporating additive manufacturing for the
required cutting tools.
The whole system will be sealed and emission free
with a gated infeed chamber and a series of sealed
outfeed chutes which feeds separated materials into
collection containers. The system will reduce Li-ion
batteries to five recyclable products:
• Black mass (containing lithium, manganese, cobalt
and nickel)
• Electrolyte
• Ferrous (steel)
• Non-ferrous (aluminium & copper)
• Light mixed fraction (plastic, rubber & paper)
According to analysis from McKinsey, global demand
for Li-ion batteries could grow 30% annually from
700 GWh in 2022 to around 4 700 GWh by 2030.
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