A man stands at the front of a room giving a presentation to a group of people seated at tables.

Daniel Grisenti presents the REFRESH project.

REFRESH partners RINA, Gees Recycling, Gjenkraft and EuCIA participated in the IEA Wind Task 45 General Assembly in the UK this November. The event was held at the National Composites Centre (NCC) in Bristol.

This two-day meeting took place on 14-15 November and packed in a lot of activities: updates on ongoing activities in Task 45: Recycling Wind Turbine Blades, workshops focused on Recycling Value Chains and Blade Design for Recycling, as well as presentations from more than 20 active blade recycling projects and initiatives.

REFRESH project coordinator Daniel Grisenti from RINA Consulting presented the REFRESH project’s objectives and answered questions from the group.

Giorgio Betteto from Gees Recycling also gave a presentation showcasing a variety of products containing recycled composite materials produced by Gees’ mechanical recycling process.

The other initiatives presented included:

  • DecomBlades;
  • ZEBRA project – Zero wastE Blade ReseArch;
  • WindLEDeRR – A comprehensive decision support tool for end-of-life wind turbines of Ireland;
  • WindEurope activities on recycling;
  • Wind Value – End of Life Decisions for Wind Farms: An Opportunity for Climate Action and for Energy Communities;
  • SUSWIND – Accelerating sustainable composite materials and technology for wind turbine blades;
  • EirBlade – Digital blade repository, blade scanning and characterisation;
  • CIRCUBLADE – Holistic solutions to upcycle End-of-Life wind turbine blades;
  • Re-Wind Project and Network;
  • EoLOHubs – Wind turbine blades End of Life through Open HUBs for circular materials in sustainable business models.
A man giving a presentation to a room of people seated at tables.

Giorgio Betteto discusses products developed using recycled composite materials.

IEA Wind Task 45

The IEA Wind Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) is an international network that shares information and research activities to advance wind energy deployment.

IEA Wind Task 45: Recycling Wind Turbine Blades brings key stakeholders together to identify the barriers and mitigation strategies for the implementation of large-scale wind turbine blade recycling solutions.

IEA Wind Task 45 holds annual General Meetings to build its community, and has regular dedicated work package meetings to explore specific issues.

REFRESH is a new member of this international collaboration and we really enjoyed learning more about its progress to date and networking with the other participants.

Two people seated at a table drawing a diagram on a large sheet of paper.

Daniel Grisenti and Marcin Rusin (Gjenkraft) design a blade for recycling by pyrolysis.

 

 

 

 

 

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