Wind turbine blade recycling - from lab to industrial testbed

From laboratory validation to industrial application

This film provides a close look at how wind turbine blade materials are processed at Stena Recycling’s testbed in Halmstad, Sweden. Here, laboratory proven recycling methods are applied at industrial scale, demonstrating material separation under real operating conditions.

Proving material separation at industrial scale

While laboratory testing confirms that material separation is technically possible, industrial application requires proof under real operating conditions. At the testbed, material quality, safety, repeatability and process stability can be validated at significantly larger volumes — providing the evidence needed to move from research to industrial implementation.

Why industrial scale matters

Industrial scale material separation is a critical step toward circular solutions for wind turbine blades. In close collaboration with Vestas, Stena Recycling is demonstrating how complex composite materials can be separated with consistent quality, safety, and repeatability in a controlled testbed environment. This marks an important milestone in moving blade recycling from laboratory results toward solutions that can be validated and scaled in real industrial settings.

Material separation from wind turbine at Stena Recycling in Halmstad Sweden

How to work with complex composite materials

Wind turbine blades are designed to withstand decades of extreme conditions, including hurricanes, storms and heavy snow. While this durability is critical during operation, it also makes composite materials particularly challenging to recycle.

What is a testbed?

A testbed is a controlled environment where recycling processes are tested beyond laboratory scale, while not yet operating at full industrial scale. It enables new methods to be evaluated under realistic conditions, using industrial equipment, materials, and workflows — while still allowing for flexibility, learning, and iteration.

This is where the testbed bridges the gap between lab-scale research and future industrial implementation. By operating at a significantly larger and more relevant scale than laboratory experiments, it becomes possible to assess material quality, purity, repeatability, and safety. All critical factors when moving from research toward real-world application.

At Stena Recycling’s testbed, wind turbine blade materials are processed and separated into distinct fractions. This separation is a crucial step in unlocking the value of each material stream and enabling further recycling and reuse in downstream applications.

Step by step guide to wind turbine blade recycling

Decommissioning and cutting of blades

Blades of up to 100 meters long are cut in pieces after decommissioning for safe transport. The cutting is done safely, with consideration for the environment and as quietly as possible using effective tools for the strong materials the blades are made of.

Transport to Stena Recycling

During the cutting the most efficient tools are used since the blades are made of strong materials. Once the blades have been cut to smaller pieces, they are transported to Stena Recycling for material separation.

Chemical separation process

At Stena Recycling, the blades are exposed to a liquid that penetrates the structure and breaks the epoxy into fragments. The materials can then be peeled from each other and recycled in separate material streams.

Reaching circularity

The final step shows how separation enables clean material streams for continued development and scaling. In parallel, viable markets are being established to reintegrate recovered materials into new value chains.

Blade circularity solution - film material

Follow our journey by watching our films. They cover all parts in our "Step by step guide to wind turbine blade recycling" above. In Episode 1 we cover stage 1 & 2 and in Episode 2 we cover stage 3 & and begin with stage 4.

The top of a wind turbine. Photo owned by: Vestas Wind Systems A/S

Episode 1 - Scaling innovative solutions for epoxy-based blade recycling

Episode 2 - Industrial material separation for wind turbine blade recycling

Follow our journey - that continues beyond material separation

Stena Recycling employe working in a development testbed at SNRC Halmstad Sweden

Material output from the testbed shows consistent quality across separated fractions, indicating strong potential for further recycling and industrial use. These results provide an important foundation for continued development and validation by downstream partners.

With quality and volumes now demonstrated, the next phase focuses on collaboration across the value chain — enabling partners to test, refine and scale new applications for recycled blade materials.