What happens to decommissioned wind turbines and blades? Some are finding new life as buildings.
Europe is on track for a record wind year, with 8.8 GW of new capacity installed in the first half of 2026 – a 30 per cent jump year on year.
That’s enough electricity to power around seven million European households and replace fossil fuel imports equivalent to 25 LNG tankers a year, according to industry nonprofit WindEurope.
But every turbine that goes up eventually means one coming down – and manufacturers are still working out how to make sure none of the materials go to waste.
fiberglass insulation works because of 2 things, glass’ low thermal conductivity, but especially because all the air trapped between all the thin strands. Shredding these would create a mainly compact granulate/dust, and a shit ton of microplastics.
Yeah fiberglass insulation is loose strands. Fiberglass as a building material is woven into fabric, then rigidized with epoxy. You can’t turn it back into strands.
Yeah, you would probably have to reprocess it or use it as a some lower quality filler.