Sustainable end-of-life value chain scenarios for wind turbine blades

This study presents sustainable end-of-life (EoL) value chain scenarios for wind turbine blades (WTBs). The scenarios investigated herein are mechanical shredding, pyrolysis, and cement co-processing that can be industrially upscaled. Together with the industrial partners, end-of-life scenario value chains are identified to assess their sustainability through material flow analysis (MFA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and techno-economic assessment (TEA). A prospective LCA model is proposed to address the challenge of increased volumes of WTBs reaching EoL considering scenarios with different technology readiness levels (TRL) expected to be commercialized subsequently. Scenario-wise, the Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) developed by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) have been relied upon for future scenarios in 2030, 2040, and 2050. SSPs were quantified based on marker scenario integrated assessment models (IAM). Moreover, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework is proposed to evaluate environmental impacts, economic criteria, and circularity of the EoL value chain scenario considering a prospective scheme and addressing the key challenges related to the assessment of emerging technologies. Furthermore, a full conceptual framework of the methodology is presented.