Recycling of solid matter from wind turbine blades into concrete

The City of Matane and the Regional County Municipality (RCM) of La Matanie are located in the heart of the wind farms of the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions, which together have 60% of Quebec’s wind farms. The Matane region CFDC is a Community Futures Development Corporation. The region’s wind farms are aging, and the end of the useful life of wind turbine blades is raising questions. At the current time, these blades are processed only in municipal landfill sites. As a result, problems related to a lack of space at the sites and the burial of organic matter (polymers) are becoming increasingly pressing.

The turbine blade recycling project is aligned with the recycling and circular economy dynamics promoted by the Synergie Matane project, by proposing a tangible initiative to reuse wind turbine blades. The City and the RCM are financial and technical partners in this project.

As a result, the CFDC wants to carry out a feasibility study in cooperation with the University of Sherbrooke on recycling methods for wind turbine blades made up mainly of fibre-reinforced polymers. No fully mature recycling solution is yet known for this type of material. The study will focus on the transformation of blades into three forms – fibre, aggregate and powder – that will be integrated into a concrete matrix, thereby replacing part of the cement. It will look at the physico-chemical properties of each formulation and its compliance with building standards.

The project’s main environmental benefits include the rehabilitation of a type of waste that is now buried, and a reduced use of cement, whose production is energy-consuming and strongly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. It should also be noted that, since the transportation wind turbine blades is extremely expensive and polluting, a recycling solution necessarily needs to be locally based.

The project also brings together many local stakeholders, with the participation of three private businesses working in the area of wind farming or construction. This cooperation between the different actors combines the economic, environmental and social aspects in a smart manner. It makes it possible to ensure the cost effectiveness of the operation, find a potential use for the processed concrete, and align the project with the sustainable development programs and objectives of the City and the region.

Innovative aspects:

• Rehabilitation of wind turbine blades into construction materials
• Innovative and local recycling solution for waste that is now being directed to landfill sites
• Complement to the scientific literature on this subject and the potential development of a solution
• Use of local facilities and resources

Replicability:

This project has a fairly high replicability potential in the region and in Canada, with the possibility of standardizing the recycling of this problematic waste. The project will be replicable both on a larger scale and in regions where wind farms are concentrated.