An Iowa startup is transforming decommissioned wind turbine blades into reusable materials for the concrete and mortar industries. REGEN Fiber has developed technology to transform decommissioned wind turbine blades into reinforcement fiber that increases the strength and overall durability of concrete and mortar applications such as pavement, slabs-on-grade and precast products.

The company began to pilot the mechanical process in 2021 and collaborate with the concrete industry at aFiber-reinforced polymer materials are derived from wind turbine blades. Source: REGEN Fiber facility in Des Moines, Iowa. It will begin commercial-scale blade recycling in the second half of 2023. A new facility under construction in Fairfax will have the capacity to recycle more than 30,000 tons of shredded blade materials annually.

In addition to recycling decommissioned blades, REGEN Fiber is already recycling new wind turbine blade manufacturing scrap materials at commercial scale at the Des Moines facility. These scrap materials are processed into fibers that can be used for asphalt and composite products, helping to solve another waste management issue that exists at the start of the wind turbine blade lifecycle.