President Trump recently said that wind turbines are “rotting” and suggested they are abandoned when “rusty,” raising questions about the waste generated by the industry. “And they don’t say this, but after a period of time, they get tired, they get old, they get rusty, and a lot of guys say hey, their useful life is gone, let’s get the hell out of here,” Trump said about wind turbines in a rally in Colorado Springs, Colo., in late February. But are abandoned wind components really creating a waste problem? Many experts say concerns about the environmental impact of wind turbine waste — or, specifically, the plastic spinning blades — currently are overblown, even though the economic costs of turbine disposal are a challenge for the industry. Most research indicates that waste from wind turbines poses little environmental risk in the near and long term, especially when compared with waste from traditional fossil fuel sources, according to Lawrence Bank, a research engineer at Georgia Tech who studies wind turbine blades. “The scale of the issue is — in terms of the amount of construction and demolition waste generated — minuscule,” Bank told E&E News. Approximately 85% to 90% of wind turbine components, including virtually all their metal parts, can be recycled, according to a 2019 paper in the journal Wind Energy. The remaining 10% to 15% is the blades themselves and the turbine housing, which are nontoxic. To view the full article visit EE News.
