When building wind turbines, Germany’s waste disposal industry is calling for a rethink so that the rotor blades can be recycled after they have been dismantled and do not have to be incinerated. “For decades, Germany has been putting wind turbines on fields that cannot be reasonably used,” said the President of the Waste Management Association BDE, Peter Kurth, to the dpa in Berlin.
The rotors, which are interspersed with carbon or glass fiber, are a problem for recycling. “These composite materials end up being incinerated or in landfills abroad.” This is an annoying waste of resources, says Kurth.
Manufacturers should build their wind turbines in such a way that they can be easily dismantled into various components and recycled after they have been in use for around two decades. “The recyclables have to be put back into the cycle instead of just being burned.” Kurth finds it regrettable that this waste problem was not taken into account in the energy transition. He hopes that the federal government will make tough specifications in a strategy for the circular economy in the coming year. It would be conceivable that manufacturers would be given a transitional period and then only be able to bring rotor blades onto the market that are easily recyclable, says Kurth.
