Europe’s oldest offshore wind turbines are now being dismantled, after having delivered clean energy since the early 1990s. These turbines have transformed offshore wind into clean power on land, but decommissioning the oldest creates new environmental problems. Over the next few years, Europe will have to dispose of its wind turbine blades, without any requirements for recycling the materials. By 2040, up to 20,000 wind turbine blades could be landfilled or incinerated simply because we lack good ways to process them sustainably.
Decommissioned wind turbines may leave 20,000 blades landfilled or burned by 2040
