Initiative
Materiality analysis: Compare different materials and assess their carbon footprint and circularity potential.
Action
Assessment and design
Eco design: Redesign products for circularity, considering aspects such as modularity, durability and recyclability.
Metrics and KPIs: Establish metrics and key performance indicators to measure progress towards circular economy and reduced impact.
Regulatory assessment: Keep the company informed about relevant regulations and help ensure compliance.
Monitoring and evaluation
Stakeholder engagement: Engage and educate stakeholders at all levels within the organization and along the entire value chain about the definition, practices and benefits of circularity.
Business model innovation: Develop and implement new business models that support circular economy principles (e.g. cooperate with recyclers to obtain recycled materials to feed back into your own production line).
Strategy development
Strategic roadmap:
Develop a comprehensive business case, strategy and roadmap for transitioning to a circular economy, including short-, mid- and long-term goals.
Developers could opt for recyclable blades such as Siemens Gamesa's RecyclableBlade. The RecyclableBlade utilizes a new type of resin which can be dissolved, meaning the glass fiber, resin, core material and metal can be separated and reused.
RecyclableBlades have been installed on the German offshore wind farm Kaskasi throughout 2022.
Example
Developers should identify key policies that drive the circular economy and implement policy guidelines in their project design. The UK’s Circular Economy Package identifies steps for waste reduction that the developer can use to plan for waste management and recycling throughout the project lifetime.
Other markets have strict guidelines to follow such as a ban on wind turbines blades going to landfill. The German Area Development Plan (FEP) is an example of this, stating that “After dismantling, the aim should be to reuse the removed components before recycling and recycling before any other use, particularly for energy recovery, or otherwise ensure that they are disposed of properly on land in a demonstrable manner.”
Developers could participate in an offshore wind cluster to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders on circularity. Scotland’s Deep Wind Offshore Cluster actively promotes circularity and works closely with developers including Ocean Winds, SSE Renewables, Equinor and Kincardine Offshore Wind Limited.
The Deep Wind Offshore Cluster participates in sector-wide initiatives focusing on resource efficiency, recycling and reuse of different components in offshore wind farms as well as waste reduction.