Breaking the Recycling Bottleneck of Wind Turbine Blade Composites from a Full-Life-Cycle Closed-Loop Perspectives

The rapid expansion of global wind power installed capacity has resulted in enormous waste of wind turbine blades (WTBs) made of thermosetting resin matrix composites. Most existing review articles merely summarize recycling processes from a single dimension, lacking a full-chain systematic analysis that integrates intrinsic material mechanisms, techno-economic performance and top-level policy coordination. Taking full-life-cycle closed-loop resource valorization as the core research objective, this paper focuses on three pivotal scientific problems: (1) revealing the essential restrictive factors for blade recycling through microstructure characterization of raw materials; (2) establishing a multi-dimensional evaluation framework for four principal end-of-life (EOL) strategies, including direct reuse, mechanical recycling, pyrolysis, and chemical recycling, to systematically compare their advantages, limitations, and applicable scenarios; (3) clarifying the coupling relationship between the upfront design of recyclable resins/fibers and EOL recycling technologies, and proposing targeted countermeasures to fix defects in relevant industrial policies. This paper reviews existing blade recycling technologies from process principle, fiber damage and component property, and compares recycling routes for glass/carbon fiber composites. Based on advanced recyclable materials including dynamic covalent resins, thermoplastic matrices and bio-based reinforcements, it discusses the approach of source recyclable design to replace EOL waste treatment, and analyzes policy deficiencies concerning the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system and regional industrial support.