Creating circular industrial symbiosis for end-of-life wind turbine blades from wind power and construction value chains

Ana T Lima; Ashal Tyurkay; Javier Romero-Gil; Charilaos Paraskevoulakos; Tao Liu; Søren Fæster; Leon Mishnaevsky Jr; Maria Korsali; Duc Tung Dao; Victor Pacheco; Genís Colomino; Florent Gauvin; Nataliya Lushnikovah; Kristen Skelton; Morten Philipsend; Amaia Gómez; H. Giray Resat; Thomas Matschei; Anya Vollpracht; Cynthia Morales Cruz; Maria Modestou; Dionisis Semitekolos; Costas Charitidis

doi:10.12688/openreseurope.22681.1

Creating circular industrial symbiosis for end-of-life wind turbine blades from wind power and construction value chains

Ana T Lima ,
Ashal Tyurkay ,
Javier Romero-Gil
,
Charilaos Paraskevoulakos
,
Tao Liu ,
Søren Fæster
,
Leon Mishnaevsky Jr
,
Maria Korsali ,
Duc Tung Dao
,
Victor Pacheco
,
Genís Colomino
,
Florent Gauvin
,
Nataliya Lushnikovah
,
Kristen Skelton
,
Morten Philipsend
,
Amaia Gómez ,
H. Giray Resat
,
Thomas Matschei
,
Anya Vollpracht
,
Cynthia Morales Cruz
,
Maria Modestou
,
Dionisis Semitekolos
,
Costas Charitidis

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Published

March 10, 2026

DOI

https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.22681.1

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March 10, 2026 (Published Manuscript Under Review 1.0)

European Commission

Grant ID(s): 101096437

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Construction materials, Wind power, Circular economy, Recycling, Repurpose, Repair, Reuse, end-of-life, wind turbine blades, value chain partnerships

Abstract

The upcoming scarcity of certain mineral resources in the construction industry has been known for years, with some warning that extractable ores may be exhausted within several decades. ¹ Although this has been accepted for scarcer elements such as molybdenum or zinc, the scarcity of preconceived “abundant” resources such as sand or gravel is difficult to acknowledge. Nevertheless, recent studies have highlighted this scarcity at the local scale and connected it to its intense use by the construction industry as an aggregate. ^{2,
2} The construction industry is the sink for a large fraction of mineral resources extracted (e.g., ³) and therefore should also lead the way in reducing the use of virgin materials while also finding ways to recirculate waste materials.

Corresponding author

Ana T Lima

0000-0001-6980-6553

atmli@dtu.dk

Grant information

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No. 101096437

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

© 2026 Ana T Lima (Corresponding Author, Co-Author); Ashal Tyurkay (Co-Author); Javier Romero-Gil (Co-Author); Charilaos Paraskevoulakos (Co-Author); Tao Liu (Co-Author); Søren Fæster (Co-Author); Leon Mishnaevsky Jr (Co-Author); Maria Korsali (Co-Author); Duc Tung Dao (Co-Author); Victor Pacheco (Co-Author); Genís Colomino (Co-Author); Florent Gauvin (Co-Author); Nataliya Lushnikovah (Co-Author); Kristen Skelton (Co-Author); Morten Philipsend (Co-Author); Amaia Gómez (Co-Author); H. Giray Resat (Co-Author); Thomas Matschei (Co-Author); Anya Vollpracht (Co-Author); Cynthia Morales Cruz (Co-Author); Maria Modestou (Co-Author); Dionisis Semitekolos (Co-Author); Costas Charitidis (Co-Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

First version published

March 10, 2026 (https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.22681.1)

Latest version published

March 10, 2026 (https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.22681.1)

Simultaneously, the wind power industry must address the increasing stream of end-of-life (EoL) wind turbine blades, whose primary materials are fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP). Europe’s wind energy generation is expected to expand from 200 GW to 2,300 GW in the coming 30 years⁴ by using larger and more resistant blade structures (the capacity of wind turbines will increase from 5–10 MW to over 25 MW). With repowering, there are a considerable number of EoL wind turbine blades. Despite various existing technologies for recycling composites, these solutions are not available at an industrial scale or economically competitive, with cement co-processing and landfills being the most widely used methods today. An estimated total–40-60,000 tons of wind turbines are likely to be decommissioned in Europe by the end of 2023, with an expected increase to 325,000 tons by 2050.⁵ Waste management has become a key priority in the wind industry with the increasing number of wind turbines that come to the end of their operating lifetime.⁶

Circular economy across 2 value chains

Circular Economy (CE) has been proposed as a material and energy-efficient solution for product value chains (e.g., the Ellen MacArthur Foundation). The concept has gained considerable momentum in recent decades and has been adopted across sectors and disciplines. The current accepted framework establishes (from high to low circularity) Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle, and Recover. We reduce and optimize resource and material use as we increase the circularity ladder. In summary, reuse is more energy-, material-, and resource-efficient than recycling. The success of the R framework resides in its versatility in cross-sectoral applications, with numerous products and applications fitting the CE concept.

Composite recycling is a cross-sector challenge, and cross-value chain cooperation is imperative for closing the loop of EoL wind turbine blades. By bringing the wind energy and construction value chains together, we aim to create a symbiotic relationship that avoids sending EoL wind turbine blades to landfills by using them as a secondary resource in the construction industry, thereby reducing its dependency on raw virgin resource materials such as reactive binders and fine aggregates, such as siliceous sand or fillers.⁷ This is precisely what the project Blades2Build aims to support in achieving the EU’s 2050 Environmental Goals and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blades2Build is a new Horizon Europe Innovation project that demonstrates at an industrial scale the ambitious goal of improving and supporting circularity solutions for EoL wind blades by exploring three different circular stages ( Figure 1):

• Direct reuse of EoL wind turbine blades with minimal refurbishment or processing.
• Individual material constituents of the blades (and wind turbine blade manufacturing waste) are repurposed for other uses/products, specifically in construction materials, with the use of concrete and asphalt mixtures as the first option, creating circular products.
• Recycling the blade and manufacturing waste containing resin in cement/clinker co-processing as alternative raw materials and fuel (the resin provides heat, while the fibers left after combustion can be used as raw materials).

Figure 1. The circular options put forward by Blades2Build to simultaneously reduce waste from wind power generation and pressure on raw materials by the construction industry.

From the repurposing and recycling routes, we will create new construction materials with FRP material waste from wind turbine blade structures.

Synergistic and multidisciplinary approaches are required to achieve a truly circular future. We cannot neglect that our society stands on “raw” materials exploitation and manufacturing, and that many products and services need these materials’ conditions to function. As we strive for higher levels of circularity (reuse, reduce), we should cooperate with cross-value chains – in an open-loop supply chain fashion – to use waste materials from one value chain and relieve the pressure on raw materials of the other in an economical process. In this way, we guarantee that the future renewable energy supply and construction materials respond to policies that are responsible for zero waste and resource efficiency.

Authors’ statement

The first author wrote the manuscript. The co-authors were equal collaborators in editing and revising this article.

Ethics and consent

Ethical approval and consent were not required.

Disclaimer

The information on this publication is for general informational purposes only. The European Commission makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the publication or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the publication for any purpose.

Data availability

No data was used in the writing of this statement paper – data used in this paper are from external references. All references are cited in the reference list.

References

1. Henckens MLCM, van Ierland EC , Driessen PPJ, et al.: Mineral resources: Geological scarcity, market price trends, and future generations. Res. Policy. 2016; 49: 102–111. Publisher Full Text
2. Ioannidou D, Meylan G, Sonnemann G, et al.: Is gravel becoming scarce? Evaluating the local criticality of construction aggregates. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 2017; 126: 25–33. Publisher Full Text
3. European Commission: Buildings and construction - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.2026. (accessed February 3, 2026). Reference Source
4. Dickson G: Electrifying Europe with wind energy – towards net-zero by 2050 - The European Files, The European Files. 2021. (accessed March 23, 2023). Reference Source
5. Lichtenegger G, Rentizelas AA, Trivyza N, et al.: Offshore and onshore wind turbine blade waste material forecast at a regional level in Europe until 2050. Waste Manag. 2020; 106: 120–131. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
6. WindEurope: How to build a circular economy for wind turbine blades through policy and partnerships. WindEurope, Wind Europe; 2021. (accessed March 23, 2023). Reference Source
7. Liu T, Duyal C, Paraskevoulakos C, et al.: Effect of wind turbine blade waste on cement hydration and gel structure: Competitive interaction of glass and polyester resin. Compos. Part B Eng. 2026; 311: 113273. Publisher Full Text

Comments

Publication information

Section

Open Letter

Published

March 10, 2026

DOI

https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.22681.1

Versions

March 10, 2026 (Published Manuscript Under Review 1.0)

Included in

Funding data

European Commission

Grant ID(s): 101096437

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Views

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Keywords

Construction materials, Wind power, Circular economy, Recycling, Repurpose, Repair, Reuse, end-of-life, wind turbine blades, value chain partnerships

Comments

Ana T Lima

Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Capital Region of Denmark, 2800, Denmark

Roles

Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Conceptualization, Data Curation, Funding Acquisition, Project Administration, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

0000-0001-6980-6553

atmli@dtu.dk

Ashal Tyurkay

Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Capital Region of Denmark, 2800, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

0009-0008-2085-2485

asty@dtu.dk

Javier Romero-Gil

Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Capital Region of Denmark, 2800, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

jrogi@dtu.dk

Charilaos Paraskevoulakos

Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Capital Region of Denmark, 2800, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

chapa@dtu.dk

Tao Liu

Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs Lyngby, Capital Region of Denmark, 2800, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

0000-0003-3738-8531

taliu@dtu.dk

Søren Fæster

Department of Wind and Energy Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Roskilde, Region Zealand, DK-4000, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

sfni@dtu.dk

Leon Mishnaevsky Jr

Department of Wind and Energy Systems, Technical University of Denmark, Roskilde, Region Zealand, DK-4000, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

lemi@dtu.dk

Maria Korsali

Global Consulting Sustainability AS, Global Consulting Sustainability AS, Drammen, 3024, Norway

Roles

Co-Author, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing

0000-0001-5998-695X

m.kosarli@globalconsultingsustainability.com

Duc Tung Dao

Holcim Innovation Center, Saint Quentin Fallavier-Lyon, France

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

ducting.dao@holcim.com

Victor Pacheco

Holcim Stiftung zur Forderung der wissenschaftlichen Fortbildung, Holderbank, Aargau, 6300, Switzerland

Roles

Co-Author, Conceptualization, Writing – Review & Editing

victor.pacheco@holcim.com

Genís Colomino

Department of Engineering, Projects and Innovation,, Prezero, Barcelona, Spain

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

genis.colomino@prezero.com

Florent Gauvin

University of Technology Eindhoven Department of Built Environment, Eindhoven, North Brabant, The Netherlands

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

f.gauvin@tue.nl

Nataliya Lushnikovah

University of Technology Eindhoven Department of Built Environment, Eindhoven, North Brabant, The Netherlands

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

n.Lushnikova@tue.nl

Kristen Skelton

GE Renewable Energy, GE Vernova, Aalborg, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

Kristen.Skelton@gevernova.com

Morten Philipsend

LM wind Power, Kolding, Denmark

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

morten.philipsen@lmwindpower.com

Amaia Gómez

Technological Division, Acciona Construction Business, Madrid, Spain

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

0009-0005-3538-8644

amaia.gomez.sanmartin@acciona.com

H. Giray Resat

Renao Global Consulting, ANKARA, Turkey

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

girayresat@gmail.com

Thomas Matschei

RWTH Aachen University Faculty of Civil Engineering, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

matschei@ibac.rwth-aachen.de

Anya Vollpracht

RWTH Aachen University Faculty of Civil Engineering, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

vollpracht@ibac.rwth-aachen.de

Cynthia Morales Cruz

RWTH Aachen University Faculty of Civil Engineering, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

Morales@ibac.rwth-aachen.de

Maria Modestou

Research Lab of Advanced, Composite, Nano-Materials and Nanotechnology (R-NanoLab), School of Chemical Engineering,, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou,, Athens, Attica, GR-15773, Greece

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

modestou@chemeng.ntua.gr

Dionisis Semitekolos

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

diosemi@chemeng.ntua.gr

Costas Charitidis

Roles

Co-Author, Writing – Review & Editing

0000-0003-1367-7603

charitidis@chemeng.ntua.gr

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[1] 1. Henckens MLCM, van Ierland EC , Driessen PPJ, et al.: Mineral resources: Geological scarcity, market price trends, and future generations. Res. Policy. 2016; 49: 102–111. Publisher Full Text

[2] 2. Ioannidou D, Meylan G, Sonnemann G, et al.: Is gravel becoming scarce? Evaluating the local criticality of construction aggregates. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 2017; 126: 25–33. Publisher Full Text

[3] 3. European Commission: Buildings and construction - Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.2026. (accessed February 3, 2026). Reference Source

[4] 4. Dickson G: Electrifying Europe with wind energy – towards net-zero by 2050 - The European Files, The European Files. 2021. (accessed March 23, 2023). Reference Source

[5] 5. Lichtenegger G, Rentizelas AA, Trivyza N, et al.: Offshore and onshore wind turbine blade waste material forecast at a regional level in Europe until 2050. Waste Manag. 2020; 106: 120–131. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text

[6] 6. WindEurope: How to build a circular economy for wind turbine blades through policy and partnerships. WindEurope, Wind Europe; 2021. (accessed March 23, 2023). Reference Source

[7] 7. Liu T, Duyal C, Paraskevoulakos C, et al.: Effect of wind turbine blade waste on cement hydration and gel structure: Competitive interaction of glass and polyester resin. Compos. Part B Eng. 2026; 311: 113273. Publisher Full Text

Creating circular industrial symbiosis for end-of-life wind turbine blades from wind power and construction value chains

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Ana T Lima

Ashal Tyurkay

Javier Romero-Gil

Charilaos Paraskevoulakos

Tao Liu

Søren Fæster

Leon Mishnaevsky Jr

Maria Korsali

Duc Tung Dao

Victor Pacheco

Genís Colomino

Florent Gauvin

Nataliya Lushnikovah

Kristen Skelton

Morten Philipsend

Amaia Gómez

H. Giray Resat

Thomas Matschei

Anya Vollpracht

Cynthia Morales Cruz

Maria Modestou

Dionisis Semitekolos

Costas Charitidis

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