Options to re-purpose old wind turbine blades are currently pretty limited. But in 2021, a small pilot pedestrian bridge made from decommissioned wind turbine blades was installed in Cork, Ireland. Apparently the strength of the material, the hollow interior and the aesthetics of the shape resulted in a decision to explore the possibility of using blades to replace the traditional steel components - such as steel girders. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b324c409772ae52fecb6698/t/612cdad0fb277e4beaffb917/1630329554458/Leahy_ITRN_2021_Blade_Bridge.pdf
Wind turbine blades can be over 80 - 100m in length, are made from a range of composite materials which are melded together so effectively as to withstand extreme environments. As such, disassembling blades at the end of their useful life can pose a significant challenge. Most blades are simply sent to land-fill to be buried. In 2021, Siemens Gamesa replaced the traditional resin used in blade manufacturing, with one that can be easily dissolved, enabling the blade components (fiberglass, plastic, wood and metals) to be separated and recovered. https://www.siemensgamesa.com/en-int/newsroom/2021/09/launch-world-first-recyclable-wind-turbine-blade
A typical recycling process for solar panels starts with shredding the panels into 4 - 5mm pieces to remove lamination. But researchers from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) are looking at an innovative adhesive, or encapsulate, that can enable the quick disassembly of the panel at the end-of-life. https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/12/09/recyclable-back-contact-solar-panel-from-the-netherlands/
The paper industry is energy-intensive. According to the EIA, the industry consumed 1483.2 trillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy in 2019. At the same time, the CO2 emissions of the paper industry
reached 48 million tons. Utilising renewable energy is a well established way to try to reduce the emissions footprint of processing steps reliant on electricity. But replacing natural gas needed for high temperature drying is harder. In what could well be a world-first, a NZ company is replacing natural gas in its drying hood with geothermal steam instead. https://www.eeca.govt.nz/about/news-and-corporate/news/essitys-groundbreaking-geothermal-project-a-world-first/
Science Direct forecasts worldwide solar PV waste will to reach around 78 million tonnes by 2050. Recovery of materials such as silicon has traditionally needed hydrofluoric acid, a highly toxic and corrosive chemical. Scientists have found a new way to recover silicon which uses a specific chemical treatment sequence, using less toxic chemicals. The process delivers a silicon purity of 99.9984%, recovers more useful materials than just silicon and delivers a profit of $185 on every 1kg of solar panel recycled in this manner.https://www.saurenergy.com/solar-energy-news/indian-scientists-recover-pure-silicon-from-obsolete-solar-cells
