Wind-turbine blades once doomed for landfill can now be recycled

Veolia Environnement SA agreed to recycle General Electric Co. wind-turbine blades into a raw material that can be used to make cement.

The multiyear agreement involves most of the massive blades GE’s renewable-energy unit removes when replacing its onshore turbines in the US, according to a statement Tuesday. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Turbine blades can be bigger than the wing of a Boeing 747, and many of them end up in landfills once they’re removed from service. Veolia’s North American unit will shred the fibreglass blades at a site in Missouri and convert them into a material that can replace coal, sand and clay at cement manufacturing facilities.