Posted on Jun 1, 2022
How to recycle a 150-foot wind turbine blade? Haul it to Louisiana, Missouri
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The wind energy industry is now facing a new challenge: what to do with old wind turbine blades when it’s time to replace them. The answer is found at a recycling plant in a historic Mississippi River town 90 miles north of St. Louis.
In the small community of Louisiana, Missouri, it’s not uncommon to see what looks like massive white wings traveling down the road, strapped to flatbed tractor-trailers.
Once a bustling commercial port, the historic Mississippi River town 90 miles north of St. Louis has become a hub for an unusual commodity: used wind turbine blades. Shipments from nearly every corner of the U.S. arrive daily at the Veolia North America recycling plant, the last stop for turbine blades at the end of their lifespan.
As she stood in the plant’s gravel parking lot on Monday, Rose Collard pointed to two sections of a 150-foot turbine blade from Massena, Iowa, weighing a combined 20,000 pounds. “This is one of the biggest blades that we get,” said Collard, an environmental health and safety specialist at the recycling facility.
In the small community of Louisiana, Missouri, it’s not uncommon to see what looks like massive white wings traveling down the road, strapped to flatbed tractor-trailers.
Once a bustling commercial port, the historic Mississippi River town 90 miles north of St. Louis has become a hub for an unusual commodity: used wind turbine blades. Shipments from nearly every corner of the U.S. arrive daily at the Veolia North America recycling plant, the last stop for turbine blades at the end of their lifespan.
As she stood in the plant’s gravel parking lot on Monday, Rose Collard pointed to two sections of a 150-foot turbine blade from Massena, Iowa, weighing a combined 20,000 pounds. “This is one of the biggest blades that we get,” said Collard, an environmental health and safety specialist at the recycling facility.
How to recycle a 150-foot wind turbine blade? Haul it to Louisiana, Missouri
Posted from kcur.org
Recycling
Energy
Environment
Louisiana
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Efforts to recycle or repurpose old turbine blades will likely become increasingly important in coming years, said Berry, the wind technology engineer. “A lot of wind farms were put in place in the last 20 or 25 years, so we’re seeing a near future where quite a few of those blades will be coming down.”
Wind energy researchers worldwide are working to develop sustainable and cost-effective ways to recycle wind turbine blades, but they’re also redesigning them using different materials that can be recycled more easily.
French chemical manufacturer Arkema has developed a new form of thermoplastic resin, for instance, that can be melted down during the recycling process.
“At the same time as we're handling the challenge that is posed to us by blades that are coming off towers now, we're also changing our approach to the design and the manufacturing of wind turbine blades in the future to provide ourselves with more options for recycling and reuse of blades at the end of their life,” Berry said. “We want to make sure we’re making our lives easier in the future.”
..."Efforts to recycle or repurpose old turbine blades will likely become increasingly important in coming years, said Berry, the wind technology engineer. “A lot of wind farms were put in place in the last 20 or 25 years, so we’re seeing a near future where quite a few of those blades will be coming down.”
Wind energy researchers worldwide are working to develop sustainable and cost-effective ways to recycle wind turbine blades, but they’re also redesigning them using different materials that can be recycled more easily.
French chemical manufacturer Arkema has developed a new form of thermoplastic resin, for instance, that can be melted down during the recycling process.
“At the same time as we're handling the challenge that is posed to us by blades that are coming off towers now, we're also changing our approach to the design and the manufacturing of wind turbine blades in the future to provide ourselves with more options for recycling and reuse of blades at the end of their life,” Berry said. “We want to make sure we’re making our lives easier in the future.”
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