The German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) is exploring how retired wind turbine blades could be turned into a source of textile fibres for new products. DITF is involved in the European Union-funded REWIND project, which is developing methods to dismantle, reuse and recycle the complex composite materials found in wind turbine blades.

As part of the project, DITF is working on converting recovered glass and carbon fibres into yarns and fabrics that could be used in new composite components and wind turbine repair kits.

Researchers have developed a yarn containing around 40% recycled glass fibre combined with polyamide 6 for use in thermoplastic composites. They have also produced another yarn containing up to 98% recycled glass fibre and used it to create a unidirectional fabric. The fabric is designed to place reinforcement in specific directions where additional strength is needed.

The researchers are also testing another method that avoids traditional fibre processing. In this approach, long-fibre tapes are shaved directly from cured wind turbine blades and then arranged into reinforcing fabrics. DITF is currently assessing whether these recycled materials can provide the performance needed for demanding composite applications.