Father and son explore commercial viability of wind turbine recycling

GILLETTE — In the past several years, wind turbines have been popping up all over Wyoming. For Jess Anderson, this raised a question that he wanted to find a better answer to: What happens to the wind turbine blades when they’re no longer usable?

“I read they were burying them in landfills, and I felt like there ought to be something better to be done with them than bury them,” he said.

But Jess learned it was hard to do any research on the idea.

“I just found it difficult to get much information on them, to get a look at them, even,” he said. “And to get a blade to experiment with was just about impossible.”

Earlier this year, he and his son, Cam Anderson, got connected with a research group in Laramie and have been working to bring a turbine blade recycling process to a larger scale.

They are one of five finalists for the Energy Capital Startup Challenge, which is put on by Impact 307, Wyoming’s statewide incubator network, and Energy Capital Economic Development.

On Dec. 12, the Andersons and the other four finalists will get a chance to present to a panel of judges and a live audience at the Gillette College Presentation Hall. They have a chance to win money from the $50,000 seed fund established for the event.

Earlier this year, Jess and Cam met with Western Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Laramie, about a business opportunity involving coal-based asphalt. The group happened to mention it had been working on recycling wind turbine blades, and “we asked if we could have another meeting,” Cam said.

The research group has tested a process where, by putting used turbine blades under high heat and high pressure, they’re able to extract a resin epoxy and fiberglass from the blades. The resin epoxy is an oil that can go into asphalt, and the fiberglass can be recycled to make more turbine blades.

The process has been tested in a lab, but the Andersons hope to elevate it to a pilot demonstration plant in Gillette.

Vestas, a blade manufacturer, has the ability to shred the blades in Colorado. The shredded materials would be shipped to Gillette, and the Andersons would put them through the recycling process to produce the byproducts.

“With my dad having the land and shop space, it’s an intriguing opportunity for us,” Cam said. “This kind of transcends Gillette or Wyoming, this is a large-scale issue that a lot of people are trying to find solutions for.”