The REFRESH team gathered in Italy on 17-18 January for the project’s 2nd General Assembly. This meeting marked the start of the second year of the project, which is working to develop and demonstrate a novel circular, smart system enabling improved recycling of composite materials from use-of-use wind turbine blades.

During the two days of the meeting the project partners shared updates on progress made over the past six months and presented their plans for 2024.

REFRESH work package updates

The first day saw the team meet at Villa Policreti in Aviano for a full day of presentations, discussions and networking, welcomed by project coordinator RINA and project partner GEES Recycling, which hosted the meeting. This is an exciting time as the project is nearing the conclusion of its first phase (development & customisation) and will enter the second phase (implementation & testing) in July year.

The agenda included detailed updates and discussion related to the active work packages:

  • WP 1: Design of portable dismantling, shredding and sorting technologies (partners MTB, STD, Enecolab);
  • WP 2: Development and customisation of recycling processes (Gees Recycling, Gjenkraft), CIRCE, RINA);
  • WP 3: Business Plan (RINA); and
  • WP 6: Circular by Design (CETMA).

The first day also included an online workshop with the REFRESH sister projects EoLO-HUBS (Wind turbine blades End of Life through Open HUBs for circular materials in sustainable business models) and Blades2Build (Recycle, Repurpose and Reuse End-Of-Life Wind Blade Composites – A Coupled Pre- and Co-Processing Demonstration Plant) to develop ideas for a joint Knowledge Hub. (More information about this will be announced soon.)

A long day’s work was followed by an evening event, hosted by Gees Recycling, where the team continued the discussions into the night.

Tour of Gees Recycling

The second day started with updates on the two remaining active work packages:

  • WP 7: Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation (EuCIA & RINA);
  • WP 8: Project Management (RINA).

These included an opportunity for open discussion about the next stage of the communications and dissemination activities and the project’s key tasks for the next six months.

The final activity on the agenda was a visit to Gees Recycling for a tour of its plant where recycled materials are used to manufacture rigid panels which have applications in construction, furniture and other areas. Gees will implement the REFRESH technologies in a new line for mechanical recycling of composite materials from end-of-use wind blades. Preparations are well underway for the new plant, with construction scheduled to start later this year.

Detailed progress updates on the active work packages with be published soon.