Circular Economy Pathways for End‐of‐Life Wind Turbine Blades and Their Environmental Implications and Potential Urban Applications

The rapid expansion of renewable energy, particularly wind power, is expected to generate large volumes of composite waste from end‐of‐life (EoL) turbine blades in the coming decades. Managing this material represents a significant environmental and logistical challenge worldwide. This study investigates circular economy pathways for EoL wind turbine blades by systematically integrating alternatives identified in the literature with expert knowledge from professionals operating across the wind energy value chain. The analysis considers technical feasibility, economic viability, environmental implications, and potential urban applications of different recovery pathways. The findings indicate that recycling and remanufacturing are perceived as the most promising strategies for waste valorization, although their large‐scale implementation remains constrained by logistics, infrastructure, market maturity, and regulatory gaps. Reuse may be feasible in specific contexts, whereas energy recovery, incineration, and landfilling occupy less favorable positions because of their environmental risks, limited economic attractiveness, and weaker alignment with circular economy principles. Potential applications of repurposed blade components include public furniture, pedestrian bridges, and architectural structures, although their implementation requires complementary technical and engineering validation. Rather than proposing new EoL technologies, the study contributes a qualitative framework that integrates literature evidence and expert perceptions to support decision‐making on circular strategies for renewable energy infrastructure, environmental management, and potential urban applications.