BLADES2BUILD

DTU

Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has world leaders in civil, mechanical, and environmental engineering. In this consortium, we have two world-class departments represented: Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering (DTU Sustain) and DTU Wind and Energy Systems (DTU Wind). At DTU Sustain we are at the forefront of Circular Construction Materials, not only introducing new circular solutions for carbon-intensive construction materials, but also quantifying the circular gains in terms of climate mitigation and resources. At DTU Wind, we are leading the national and European research in composite analysis and mechanics, especially of the prediction and modelling of damage evolution of windmill blades. 

ACCIONA COSTRUCCION

ACCIONA Construcción is a leading European construction company designing, constructing and managing buildings and civil infrastructures under sustainability principles. It has an international presence in more than 30 countries and its total turnover in 2020 was about 2.668 million €, employing 10.189 people. Our goal is to lead the transition to a low-carbon economy by providing technical excellence and innovation to all projects to design a better planet and contribute to the economic and social development of the communities in which we operate. At ACCIONA, we think on a different way of doing business that promotes the well-being of society and the planet, beyond economic interests. That is why we invest in sustainable projects that make the world a better place. The Technological Division of ACCIONA Construction that is part of the Blades2Build project consortium, is composed by a multidisciplinary team of about 80 qualified researchers from a wide range of disciplines such as: Construction processes (Roads and Environmental Technologies, underground technology), materials (concrete and composite materials), digital innovation and buildings. Researcher groups have a very tight contact with real site project to implement developed innovative solutions on real scale infrastructure projects.

HOLCIM

Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. Driven by its purpose to build progress for people and planet, its 60,000 employees are on a mission to decarbonize building while improving living standards for all. The company empowers its customers across all regions to build better with less, with its broad range of low-carbon and circular solutions, from ECOPact to ECOPlanet. With its innovative system, from Elevates roofing to PRBs insulation, Holcim makes buildings more sustainable in use, driving energy efficiency and green retrofitting. With sustainability at the core of its strategy, Holcim is becoming a net-zero company with 1.5°C targets validated by SBTi.

LM WIND POWER

LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy Business, part of GE Vernova portfolio of energy businesses, is a world leading designer and manufacturer of rotor blades for wind turbines, with a global manufacturing footprint that includes blade factories in Brazil, Canada, China, India, Poland, Spain, France, Turkey and the United States. The company, founded and headquartered in Denmark, has produced more than 260,000 blades since 1978, corresponding to over 140 GW installed capacity and global savings of nearly 300 million metric tons of CO2 annually. LM Wind Power is committed to building Zero Waste Blades by 2030, a step forward in its sustainability journey after becoming the first carbon neutral business in the wind industry in 2018.

NTUA

National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) is the oldest and most prestigious educational institution of Greece in the field of technology, and has contributed unceasingly to the country’s scientific, technical and economic development since its foundation in 1836. The “Research Lab of Advanced, Composite, Nano Materials and Nanotechnology”, R-Nano is situated at the School of Chemical Engineering (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). It was established in 2007; its research group has extensive experience in Designing, Production and Characterization of Advanced-, Composite- and Nano-Materials. The R-Nano team is manned by chemical, mechanical and metallurgical engineers, physicists, and chemists, specialized in materials research and innovation, as well as experienced technicians. R-Nano brings together a multidisciplinary research team, comprised of experienced staff (including faculty members, senior researchers, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students), equipped with extensive facilities for materials production, process and characterization. The core expertise of the RNano research team includes; synthesis of carbon nanotubes, development of advanced anticorrosive coating systems reinforced with various types of nanocontainers with self-responsive ability, electrochemical characterization and elucidation of corrosion behaviour and mechanisms, nano-/micro- mechanical and tribological characterization.

As part of the Blades2Build project, the R-Nano lab of NTUA leads the lab-scale characterisation activities, supporting material recycling strategies and development of circular construction components. R-Nano lab is also leading recycling activities, investigating higher quality recyclates, through pyrolysis and solvolysis processes. Finally, NTUA as a well-established institution, has a vast experience in successfully delivering workshops and disseminating knowledge to various audiences with a high impact on society, which will be utilised to support the dissemination of research results through clustering activities and the organisation of training sessions and activities as part of B2B Summer Schools.

RWTH

With more than 47,000 students, RWTH Aachen University is one of the largest technical universities in Germany. RWTH Aachen University participates in B2B with two institutes: the Institute for Building Materials Research (ibac) and the Institute for Anthropogenic Material Cycles (ANTS). Since its foundation in 1948, the ibac has developed into an internationally leading and respected institution in the field of building materials research. The spectrum ranges from fundamental research to applied research projects in cooperation with industrial partners. The team from ANTS searches and analyses for solutions and methods to close the loop of material cycles. Thus, we aim to develop a raw material management on product and material level and demonstrate and implement it using practical examples. The ANTS combines the modelling and evaluation of processing and recycling steps with a view to entire production systems and life cycles in the sense of a circular economy.

RENAO

Renao Consulting LLC (RENAO) is a consultancy company based in Türkiye, extensively specialized in the world of consultancy services, and projects starting with programming and extending to project development, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases.
We have more than 20 years of experience in internationally funded projects (e.g. IPA & UPs, World Bank, UN, BMZ-German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, ICMPD, etc.) and are particularly specialised in the fields of socio-economic development and institutional capacity building. In addition to our specific knowledge on all cycles of project management mentioned above, RENAO’s expertise and interest primarily focus on socio-economic research, financial, economic and econometric analyses, cost-benefit analyses, feasibility studies, strategic planning, strategy formulation, public and private investment planning, business planning, business model development, SME development and compliance services. Actively operating with plenteous quality experts from different disciplines with career backgrounds of 20+ years to deliver productive outputs in development consultancy and contribute to socio-economic development, RENAO combines the academic qualities of its core team with decades of field experience. Our experts provide tailor-made consultancy services, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate projects on behalf of and with international and national development partners, national authorities, industry representatives and CSOs.

As the “Work Package 4 – Business and Engineering Planning” leader, RENAO will be responsible for collecting all relevant information from the previous workstreams and the knowledge hub to create a sustainable roadmap for the demonstration case for a given EOL blade situation; ensuring the overall coordination for the preparation and assessment of the demonstration phase from a sustainability point of view; delivering a detailed business plan for decision-makers by considering the aspects of blade recycling operations; ensuring and following-up of the GO/NO-GO decisions with decision-makers and facilitating the financialclose situation.

PZGR

PREZERO GR belongs to the Prezero International Group, has over 50 years of experience, and is currently the second Spanish operator in waste management and treatment. PREZERO GR offers a wide range of services ranging from waste collection and transport to waste treatment and recovery. PREZERO GR is currently present in more than 600 municipalities in Spain and Portugal. It carries out solutions based on circular models, focused on the citizen, that improve the urban environment and citizens’ quality of life. PZGR operates more than 129 treatment facilities, including transfer stations, aerobic and anaerobic biological treatment plants, mechanical treatment and material selection facilities, biogas recovery installations, and landfills. PZGR develops its activity following a global strategy based on innovation and continuous improvement, promoting new business models under a CE vision.

ENDESA

Endesa is the leading electricity company in Spain and the second in Portugal. It develops an integrated business from generation to marketing and offers, through Endesa X, value-added services aimed at decarbonizing energy uses in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and, as such, decisively promotes the development of renewable energies, the electrification of the economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. Our human team totals around 10,000 employees.

Endesa is part of Enel, largest electricity group in Europe. Enel Group operates in more than 30 countries with 67,000 employees, bringing energy to people through the adoption of new sustainability-oriented technologies.

Endesa will work in the Blades2Build consortium to implement in a real recycling plant, located in the area of the old Compostilla thermal plant, the best solutions for the recycling of the blades. With the principles of circularity, usefulness in the current markets, usability and lower energy consumption. In addition, Endesa will provide blades no for use at its wind farms for recycling testing.

ELDAN

Since 1956, we have been working hard to supply the best recycling solutions to our customers. We have a track record of more than 1200 complete systems and 8100 individual machines installed worldwide, and many of our recycling machines are still running more than 25 years after they were first installed. Our product range covers machines as well as standard and customized recycling solutions for tyres, cables, e-waste (WEEE), aluminium scrap, fridges, municipal solid waste (MSW), and more. In collaboration with customers we have also designed and installed recycling solutions for other materials like windmill wings, car batteries, car-fluff (ASR), pocket mattresses, casino coins, etc.
Eldan has a strong history within manufacturing of recycling equipment. We have sales, R&D, production, testing facility, installation and commissioning in our own hands. This enables the information to be communicated quickly and accurately between the different departments, thereby ensuring the quality of the product and the flexibility of the production program. Eldan has within its program equipment to downsize the strong windmill blades and also have a technical department that can draw/design the plant.

PZE

PREZERO, belonging to the Prezero International Group, is an international provider of environmental services and it is the environmental division of the Schwarz Group, which also includes the trading company of Kaufland and Lidl, as well as Schwarz Produktion. The company currently employs 30.000 people internationally in eleven countries: Germany, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, the United States, Spain, and Portugal. In Spain and Portugal, PREZERO accounts an experience of more than 50 years. With a total of 17.000 employees, PREZERO is currently the second Spanish operator in waste management and treatment and offers urban solutions to more than 15 million citizens in 600 municipalities. In the field of waste management and treatment, PREZERO is a reference company. It operates more than 129 treatment facilities, including transfer
stations, aerobic and anaerobic biological treatment plants, mechanical treatment and material selection facilities, biogas recovery installations, and landfills. PREZERO participates actively in the transition towards a circular economy by offering innovative solutions for the reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste.

Within the Blades2Build project, PREZERO will be responsible for the construction, commissioning and operation of the flexible demonstration plant for the valorisation of wind blades composites also participating in the validation and impact assessment of the technology. In developing this activity, it follows a global strategy based on innovation, continuous improvement and promoting new business models under a Circular Economy vision. Apart from that, PREZERO will coordinate and participate in the engineering tasks in collaboration with the rest of the partners, as well as in other common tasks as communication, dissemination and management.

GE

GE Renewable Energy, an integral part of the GE Vernova portfolio of energy businesses, is a nearly $13 billion business which combines one of the broadest portfolios in the renewable energy industry to provide end-to-end solutions for our customers demanding reliable and affordable green power. Combining onshore and offshore wind, blades, hydro, storage, utility-scale solar, and grid solutions as well as hybrid renewables and digital services offerings, GE Renewable Energy has installed more than 400+ gigawatts of clean renewable energy and equipped more than 90 percent of utilities worldwide with its grid solutions. With around 36,000 employees present in more than 80 countries, GE Renewable Energy creates value for customers seeking to power the world with affordable, reliable and sustainable green electrons.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.