A wind turbine’s blades can be longer than a Boeing 747 wing, which cannot be recycled. At the end of their lifespans, they are being hauled to landfills, according to a report by Bloomberg. In the United States, many go to landfills that accept them in Lake Mills, Iowa; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Casper, Wyo.
Turbine blades can last up to 20 years; however, some are being replaced after 10 years, upgraded to bigger and more powerful blades.
In the United States, 8,000 turbine blades will be removed in each of the next four years. Europe has about 3,800 coming down annually through at least 2022, according to BloombergNEF. And in Europe, blades are burned in kilns that create cement or in power plants.
And according to the report, its going to get worse because most blades were built more than a decade ago, when installations wer
