Old wind turbine blades could soon be recycled into gummy bears, thanks to a new resin that can be dissolved and reused at the end of its use cycle.
The scientists who made the composite resin said it could also be used to make countertops, sinks, car taillights, laptop covers and nappies.
It was created by experts at Michigan State University in the US, who combined glass fibres with a plant-derived and a synthetic polymer.
Wind power is an increasingly popular form of renewable energy, but when it is time to replace the huge turbine blades after 20 to 25 years, disposal is a problem.
The blades – which are built from a ‘composite’ of fibreglass and resin that can withstand hurricane-force winds but be light enough to turn – cannot easily be crushed, let alone recycled.
By 2050, it’s predicted that the world will need to dispose of two million tonnes of wind turbine blade waste every year. In the UK, the volume already exceeds 100,000 tonnes per year.
Currently, the world’s decommissioned blades are mostly buried in landfill sites, where they will take centuries to degrade.
However, Dr John Dorgan and his team at Michigan State University say the new composite resin that can make these behemoths will also later be able to be recycled into new turbine blades or a variety of other products.
What the material is turned into depends on how the scientists manipulate it, but by using an alkaline solution it can be transformed into sweets and sports drinks.
Recycling: Old wind turbine blades could soon be recycled into gummy bears thanks to a new material created from plant-derived polymer
Wind power is an increasingly popular form of renewable energy, but when it is time to replace the huge turbine blades that convert wind into electricity, disposal is a problem (stock image)
Dr Dorgan said: ‘We recovered food-grade potassium lactate and used it to make gummy bear candies — which I ate.’
He added: ‘A carbon atom derived from a plant, like corn or grass, is no different from a carbon atom that came from a fossil fuel.
‘It’s all part of the global carbon cycle, and we’ve shown that we can go from biomass in the field to durable plastic materials and back to foodstuffs.’
With some wind turbines reaching the length of half a football field, that could be a lot of gummy bears.
But the possibility of this new material doesn’t stop there.
As well as making sweets, an alkaline solution can be used to make windows and car taillights, and by mixing the material with different minerals they can make stone, which can be used to make counter tops and sinks.
Dr Dorgan said: ‘We’ve recently made a bathroom sink with the cultured stone, so we know it works.’
While some companies have found ways to recycle fibreglass blades, they normally end up in landfill when they reach the end of their shelf life.
Experts believe this situation could worsen, as blades are constantly being replaced and thrown away.
Dr Dorgan said: ‘Larger wind turbine blades are more efficient, so companies keep making bigger and bigger ones.
‘Often, wind farms will actually replace the turbine blades before the end of service life because the farms can generate more electricity with bigger blades.’
Currently, the world’s decommissioned blades are mostly buried in landfill sites like this one in Casper, Wyoming, where they will take centuries to degrade
This is why Dr Dorgan’s new material could make a real difference in the sustainability of wind turbines.
He said: ‘The beauty of our resin system is that at the end of its use cycle, we can dissolve it, and that releases it from whatever matrix it’s in so that it can be used over and over again in an infinite loop.’
The team, who presented their findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago, now aim to make some medium sized blades to put their findings to the test.
The only issue, however, is the limited supply of the bioplastic they need.
Dr Dorgan added: ‘The current limitation is that there’s not enough bioplastic that we’re using to satisfy this market, so there needs to be considerable production volume brought online if we’re going to actually start making wind turbines out of these materials.’