The ambition to create a more sustainable wind industry has been a priority for Danish and Denmark-based manufacturers and developers such as Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Ørsted and Vattenfall for many years. These companies were among the first to introduce sustainability requirements for both their own operations and their suppliers, ahead of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which mandates greater transparency throughout the entire value chain. Vestas and Ørsted have repeatedly been recognised as two of the world’s most sustainable companies. As part of their efforts to contribute to a greener industry, both companies have launched several innovative initiatives addressing present and future sustainability challenges.

Giving wind turbines a second life

Today, around 85 percent of a wind turbine is recyclable. The main challenge lies in the blades, which are made from composite materials – mainly a mix of wood, fibreglass and resin. Designed to last 20–30 years, often in harsh weather conditions, blades must be highly durable, which in turn makes them difficult to break down.

In collaboration with Danish universities and leading industry players, Vestas has initiated CETEC (Circular Economy for Thermosets Epoxy Composites), a project aimed at developing new technology to break down old wind turbine blades, enabling different components to be reused in the production of new blades.

DecomBlades is another initiative that combines knowledge from the research community and industry leaders like Siemens Gamesa, LM Wind Power, Ørsted, FLS and Vestas. The project focuses on three processes for recycling the composite materials in wind turbines blades: shredding of wind turbine blades, use of shredded blade material in cement production, and separation of composite materials using pyrolysis.

Setting higher sustainability standards

Danish authorities share the industry’s commitment to promote sustainability and have introduced ambitious sustainability criteria with the latest public offshore wind tenders. These criteria include recyclability of wind turbine blades, compliance with human rights, and measures against social dumping. The non-price criteria are included as minimum requirements, helping to raise the overall sustainability standards across the industry while ensuring a fair and objective tender process.