This is pretty interesting, because wind turbine blades are gargantuan pieces of equipment, some more than 400 feet in length, and on the low end, weighing 16 tons—but they’re apparently disappearing without a trace. Nobody seems to know where they’re going, and the CEOs of the industry aren’t talking.
From a report by Pat Maio at Cowboy State Daily:
Until a few years ago, it was common for old wind turbine blades to be discarded in local landfills. That’s not happening much anymore as landfills require them to be ground up ‘into really tiny pieces,’ which is expensive.
These landfills either won’t accept the fiberglass blades or won’t return phone calls to discuss their policies. Utility companies won’t explain the working relationship with landfills and the extent of their recycler efforts.
GE Vernova spokeswoman Treacy Reynolds declined to comment on her company’s blade recycling program. GE is a leading maker of wind turbines and has a strong presence in the blade market.
The story’s the same for a “spokesman for the billionaire Warren Buffett-owned utility giant PacifiCorp,” who “couldn’t comment”; neither could “a spokeswoman with Black Hills Energy.” Furthermore:
Cindie Langston, the solid waste division manager for the city of Casper, said that the Oil City will accept wind turbines for disposal, but ‘no wind farm operators have called us for disposal services’ in a few years.
I get itchy just thinking about busted up fiberglass dust.
they get buried cause they can recycle