Missouri chapter of a French waste management company turned old wind turbine blades into greener cement, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 27%

Who says wind turbine blades have to end up discarded in a landmine? Wind energy is widely regarded as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, but the growing number of retired turbine blades has created a new environmental challenge. Built largely from durable fibreglass composites, these massive structures are difficult to dispose of or recycle through conventional methods. In 2020, GE Renewable – a manufacturing and services division of the American company General Electric – entered into a partnership with French waste management and water management company Veolia to recycle worn-out wind turbine blades. The programme gave old turbine blades a second chance at life as a component of cement, making it the first recycling deal of its sort in the American wind energy industry.

How This Agreement Led To A Cleaner Environment

The method reduced the environmental impact of wind power while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 27% by substituting traditional materials and fuels used in the cement-making process.

Turbine Blades Are Now Getting A Second Lease Of Life

Veolia will use a co-processing technique that has been successfully applied throughout Europe. The blades, which are mostly composed of fibreglass, will be taken from turbines and shipped to a Veolia plant in Missouri, where they will be disassembled. After processing, the material will be fed into cement kilns, where it may replace some of the coal, sand, and clay that are typically used to make cement.


Over 90% of each wind turbine blade is intended to be recovered throughout the recycling process. At cement manufacturing plants, about 65% of the material will be used in place of traditional raw ingredients.

How Greener Cement Is Being Made

On the website of Veolia, Bob Cappadona, Chief Operating Officer for Veolia North America's Environmental Solutions and Services division, explained that by recycling wind turbine blades, the amount of coal, sand and minerals needed to produce cement has been reduced so the cement is more eco-friendly. “We have processed more than 100 blades so far, and our customers have been very pleased with the product,” he said.

According to Quantis U.S., recycling blades through cement kiln co-processing lowers water use by 13% and CO2 emissions by 27%. By recycling a single wind turbine blade weighing 7 US tonnes, the cement kiln can avoid requiring around 5 tonnes of coal, 2.7 tonnes of silica, 1.9 tonnes of limestone, and about a tonne of other mineral-based raw materials.

It also has a positive overall environmental impact on human health, ecosystem quality, and resource consumption. The finished cement has the same properties and functionality as cement made using traditional methods and satisfies all applicable ASTM standards.