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A Recycling Plan to Clear Wind Turbine Blades From Graveyards

A Danish startup aims to turn old turbines into a material that can address a different environmental threat: noise pollution.

 

A worker walks past wind turbine blades awaiting transport in Fort Madison, Iowa.
A worker walks past wind turbine blades awaiting transport in Fort Madison, Iowa.Photographer: Timothy Fadek/Corbis News

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It’s difficult to recycle a gigantic wind turbine. The blades are built to withstand extreme weather, from scorching desert heat to hurricane-like winds, and that means their life almost always ends in a landfill. In Europe alone, about 3,800 blades will be removed every year through at least 2022, according to BloombergNEF, as the oldest turbines reach retirement age.