Can wind turbines be recycled?

Harnessing energy, no matter how renewable or clean the source, requires some materials. But unlike fossil fuels, wind and solar are virtually pollution-free, inexhaustible, and safe. When sited in appropriate locations, these renewable sources can minimize their impact on wildlife and local ecosystems, providing us clean energy for decades to come. And, now more than ever, we’re increasingly able to recycle the equipment used in renewable energy installations. In the case of wind turbines, whose large size helps us harness more clean power, this is especially exciting.

Wind turbine basics

Wind turbines have four basic parts.

1. The tower: secured in place by a steel or concrete foundation, the tower supports the blades up in the air and must be built to withstand the force of oncoming wind and the rotation of the blades.
2. The nacelle: sitting atop the tower, the nacelle houses the generating components that convert the kinetic energy of the blades into electricity we can use.
3. The hub: fixed to the main shaft of the turbine, the hub holds together the rotor blades and connects them to the nacelle.
4. The blades: the rotor blades catch the wind, rotate, and produce clean energy. Nearly all turbines have three blades to provide optimal balance and minimize inefficiency.

Through the tower, the converted electrical energy is transmitted down to a transformer and linked to the grid. The turbine is secured in place by a steel or concrete foundation at the base of the tower.

To reach higher wind speeds and withstand inclement weather, wind turbines are designed to be large, sturdy, and durable.

What are wind turbines made of?

Roughly 70 percent of a wind turbine’s mass comes from steel. Plastics and other metals, like copper, aluminum, and iron, make up the bulk of the remaining 30 percent of a turbines’ mass. These durable materials allow wind turbines to generate energy for a lifespan of 20 to 25 years.

Wind turbines have gotten bigger and more efficient.

As technology has advanced in the past few decades, turbines have become increasingly taller and equipped with larger blades.

The average hub height – the distance from the base of a tower to the center of the blades – has increased roughly 80 percent in the last 25 years. The average rotor diameter has grown roughly 180 percent in the same period. The average onshore wind turbine currently stands at 310 feet, taller than the Statue Liberty. The average for offshore turbines is 380 feet tall, but many reach heights more than double that.

What happens to old wind turbines?

The first commercial wind turbines in the United States were built in the 1980s. Since 1992, more than 11,000 turbines have been decommissioned across the United States, though only about 230 had a capacity of over 2 MW. With more than 70,000 turbines active in the United States as of late 2024, more systems – increasingly larger turbines – will be decommissioned soon.

The good news is that roughly 90 percent of a wind turbine’s mass can be recycled. Materials such as the steel, aluminum, and recyclable plastics can be processed and repurposed after the end of the wind turbine’s useful life. Today, turbine blades are trickier to recycle.

The blades of a wind turbine are generally made out of composite materials like fiberglass and carbon fiber. This means blades are made of a mixture of things that are difficult to isolate in the recycling process. As a result, most decommissioned blades are currently broken down into parts and disposed of in landfills.

It’s getting easier to recycle wind turbine blades

We don’t have to settle for wind turbine waste. A new report from MarketsandMarkets projects the global wind blade recycling market will grow more than 400 percent from 2024 to 2029, reaching a projected market value of $370 million. Part of this growth is simply driven by the growth in wind turbines, but the report notes that improvements in recycling technology and collaboration between recycling companies are playing a major role in driving this growth.

Companies are also exploring more sustainable ways to produce turbine blades in the first place. Innovative new designs are exploring the use of recyclable materials without compromising the effectiveness of existing blades. There is also work being done to increase the use of recycled materials generally in turbine construction, helping to further limit the waste impact of wind energy.

In 2023, America produced enough wind energy to power nearly 39 million typical homes – more than twice as much as it did in 2014. With improvements in recycling technology and turbine construction, the relatively small environmental footprint of wind power can be even smaller.