Wind turbine blade recycler adopts blockchain solutions to trace materials
Northern Ireland-based recycler Plaswire has implemented a groundbreaking initiative using blockchain, IoT and AI technology to revolutionise the recycling by making materials more traceable.
Partnering with digital trade specialist company ubloquity, the new system sets a new global standard for environmental, social, and governance performance, delivering transparent and granular traceability for Plaswire’s RX polymer – a recycled composite material derived from decommissioned wind turbine blades. This marks the world’s first application of blockchain to track and verify recycled polymers throughout the entire lifecycle, from blade collection to reuse.
Plaswire CEO Andrew Billingsley said: “By 2035, millions of wind turbine blades installed in the 2000s and 2010s will reach the end of their 20-30 year lifespan, creating millions of tonnes of composite waste. Europe alone is expected to generate around 350,000 tonnes of end-of-life blades by 2030 – this presents both a significant challenge and opportunity for sustainable recycling and circular economy solutions, such as those pioneered by Plaswire.
“This collaboration with ubloquity marks a major step forward for the recycling of wind turbine blades. For the first time, we can provide complete transparency on the journey of every kilogram of our RX polymer, from its origin in decommissioned wind turbine blades to its next life in new products – all in real time. That level of traceability is transformative for industries under increasing pressure to cut their environmental impact and achieve ambitious sustainability goals.”
Plaswire fully recycles wind turbine blades into durable RX polymer, which is then used for construction, packaging, logistics parts and furniture. With this new blockchain solution added to the process, the company offers its extended customer base a fully traceable, sustainable solution supporting the principles of the circular economy.
Rick Atherton, technical project manager, ubloquity, added: “Trust and transparency are essential if recycled materials are to be widely adopted. By implementing our digital product passport and combining Plaswire’s processing and shop floor recycling data, we can demonstrate exactly where their polymer originates and how it is reused. This gives industries the confidence to choose recycled composites over virgin materials and helps them deliver on their sustainability commitments.”
Plaswire believes this solution could extend beyond the energy sector, particularly into aerospace, where thousands of aircraft are expected to be retired over the next decade, producing significant volumes of composite waste. The company estimates that its new system could cut carbon emissions by 2.7 tonnes of CO₂ for every ton of material processed, significantly driving a circular economy.
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