Circularity in Wind Turbine Blades: a joint workshop by JIDEP and BLADES2BUILD projects (Part I)

In today’s rapidly evolving industrial landscape, circular economy practices are not just an environmental imperative—they’re also the cornerstone of innovation and cost efficiency. The recent virtual workshop held on February 18, the JIDEP & BLADES2BUILD project brought together key stakeholders from the fields of renewable energy and materials engineering to discuss innovative solutions for recycling end-of-life wind turbine blades, upholding the values of the circular economy. This collaborative effort is particularly relevant in today's context, as demand for sustainable construction materials from various industries continues to grow. We are publishing the workshop recap in two parts. In today’s first installment, we focus on the projects’ introduction.

The JIDEP (Joint Industrial Data Exchange Pipeline) project was introduced by Dr. Florian Maurer (Coordinator, Fachhochschule Vorarlberg GmbH—FHV), focusing on improving industrial data sharing across supply chain stakeholders. On the other hand, the BLADES2BUILD was introduced by Dr. Ana Teresa Macas Lima (Coordinator, Technical University of Denmark—DTU).

Representatives from Technovative Solutions (TVS) played key roles in the webinar. Farhadur Arifin, Research Lead at TVS, showcased demonstrations for Digital Product Passport, Circularity Index tool and Life Cycle Analysis Tool. Dr. Fahim Chowdhury, CEO at TVS, responded to the questions that were flagged at the Q&A session, while Dr. Tamanna Khan, COO at TVS, moderated the workshop.

Apart from the TVS, BLADES2BUILD and JIDEP, representatives from Technical University of Denmark (DTU), National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), RWTH Aachen University, Eldan Recycling, PREZERO GR (PZGR), Global Consulting Sustainability (GCS), LM Wind Power, ACCIONA Construcción, Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE), and Holcim were present at the workshop.

The BLADES2BUILD Project

The BLADES2BUILD project is pioneering a new approach to address the issue of waste generated by wind turbine blades. Wind energy has been identified as a crucial component in the transition to a sustainable energy future; however, the resulting waste from decommissioned blades poses environmental challenges. Participants discussed these objectives, sharing insights into the latest developments and technologies being applied within the project. Throughout the discussion, the industry experts emphasised the importance of developing a demonstration plant that can showcase these sustainable practices in action. By aligning recycling with construction industry standards, BLADES2BUILD is setting the stage for more cost-effective and environmentally friendly waste management solutions.

To make the results of the BLADES2BUILD project sustainable, effective, and functional, it is essential to ensure that all the information acquired at each stage of the value chain is transparent, reliable, and accurate.

This is where the significance of the JIDEP project comes into play—a project dedicated to helping overcome trust barriers, ensure non-repudiation, and support the self-sovereignty of identities and data ownership by decentralising the blockchain network.

The JIDEP Project

Florian Maurer, the coordinator of the JIDEP project (Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences), gave a clear overview of the project during his session at the webinar.

This project is opening new paths for sustainability and circularity in multiple industries, including end-of-life wind turbine blades, by improving data sharing and using digital tools. It brings together 13 partners from the UK, Italy, Austria, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Israel. Running from 1st June 2022 until 31st May 2025, the JIDEP project is backed by a budget of approximately 4 million euros. JIDEP is a project of Horizon Europe and funded by HADEA in Horizon Cluster four within the resilience topic.

The JIDEP project is organised to deliver:

1. Data Reusability: The project builds ontologies for better industrial data exchange. It creates digital material passports. This helps materials join the business cycle again.
2. Collaborative Space: This space is a digital platform that improves data sharing among different actors across the entire value chain.
3. Digital Tools: The platform can provide a product with a digital passport and can calculate a product’s life cycle (LCA) and circularity index. It will help the manufacturers or buyers to ensure supply chain transparency and visibility as well as reusability and recyclability. 
4. Transformation: Increase the autonomy of European industries by ensuring circularity. Europe does not have many raw materials. Recycling old materials helps industries rely less on imports.
5. Platform Validation: The project tests the platform with use cases from wind turbine blades, the automotive industry, and printed circuit boards.

The JIDEP project focuses on practical industrial use cases aimed at the reuse, recycling, and upcycling of composites to reintegrate them into supply chains- a key strategy for reducing waste and promoting sustainability. Three major use cases are being investigated:

1. Recycling of Wind Turbine Blades: Led by Zorlu Enerji from Turkey, in collaboration with its supplier TPI Composites, this use case addresses the challenges of recycling materials from decomposed wind blades.
2. Automotive Industry: With Stellantis, the world’s largest automotive manufacturer and owner of brands like Fiat and Jeep, this case uses digital tools to improve circularity in the automotive industry.
3. Electronic Waste: This use case tackles the recycling challenges of printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are composed of multiple materials that often end up shredded and used as landfill. The objective is to reintegrate these valuable materials back into supply chains.

Through these use cases, the JIDEP project is set to successfully solve sector-specific recycling challenges and promote sustainable, circular solutions.

In the next episode, we will cover how the discussants outlined the synergies between the JIDEP and BLADES2BUILD projects, along with highlights from the open discussion held during the workshop.