CRRC Builds 110-Meter Wind Blade With 95% Material Recovery

HAMBURG, Germany: CRRC has completed a 110-meter recyclable wind turbine blade at its facility in Sheyang, in China's Jiangsu province, and says more than 95% of the blade's key raw materials can be recovered at the end of its life, according to an English-language release issued Sept. 24. The company, listed in Shanghai under the code 601766, issued the announcement from Hamburg in English, German and French versions.

CRRC developed the blade in-house. It calls the milestone a significant step toward recycling very large blades at commercial scale.

A Resin Designed to Come Apart

Wind turbine blades are hard to recycle because they are made of fibers locked in hardened resin. CRRC's design uses what it calls a high-efficiency, debondable infusion resin. A reversible chemical process separates the resin from the reinforcing fibers when the blade is retired.

The company says the blade still meets demanding requirements for strength, stiffness and fatigue life. Once recovered, the resin and fibers can be reused in wind equipment, car manufacturing, infrastructure and other applications. CRRC describes this as moving blades beyond a "single-use" model toward closed-loop recovery.

CRRC subsidiary Times New Material, known as TMT, said in a July 21 post that the 110-meter blade combines carbon and glass fiber and also uses recyclable structural adhesive and hand lay-up resin. TMT said it previously produced what it called the world's first 86-meter thermoset recyclable blade and China's first set of 82-meter recyclable blades, so the new blade is a step up in size for the same technology.

China Faces a Wave of Retired Turbines

The problem is growing fast. CRRC says China's new onshore and offshore wind installations are expected to exceed 470 gigawatts in the coming years. Industry estimates cited in the release say that by 2030 more than 30,000 wind turbines will have been retired in China, representing 44.73 GW of capacity and 947,900 metric tons of wind-related solid waste.

Earlier Steps in CRRC's Recycling Work

The 110-meter blade builds on earlier projects. In March 2025, CRRC developed what it says was China's first TMT82 recyclable thermoset-resin blade, using a resin system based on reversible chemical bonds. In April 2025, it launched China's first mobile processing system for decommissioned blades, a "smart mobile recycling factory" that can be moved to wind farms instead of hauling blades to a fixed plant. CRRC says the system combines distributed and centralized processing and that its capacity exceeds applicable national standards.

Composite recycling is becoming a market of its own. A Mordor Intelligence forecast covered by TradeFlock projects the recycled carbon fiber market reaching $427 million by 2031.

Why the Release Went Out From Hamburg

The Hamburg dateline points to the audience. CRRC says the recyclable system can help customers meet sustainability reporting obligations, including the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and that it suits large offshore turbines while combining safety, environmental performance and cost-effectiveness. The company says these features strengthen its position as it takes offshore wind equipment to international markets.

Chinese energy equipment makers are pushing abroad on several fronts. TradeFlock reported that Shanghai Electric showcased three energy transition solutions for Southeast Asian markets at Enlit Asia 2026.

The release did not include independent test results, costs or customer orders for the blade. Those are the details European buyers will look for, along with recovery data from blades processed at scale.