Low-temperature catalytic chemical recycling of WTB-GFRP waste for glass fiber recovery and reuse
Abstract
The growing disposal of wind turbine blades composed of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) poses a major recycling challenge. In this study, we present a low-temperature catalytic chemical recycling method on GFRP blade waste for glass fiber recovery and evaluation of the mechanical performance of mortar reinforced with recovered glass fibers (rGF). The GFRP was degraded using Mn(acac)₃ in dimethyl sulfoxide at 110 °C, achieving 92.69% epoxy removal efficiency. A significant flexural strength up to 66.04% was achieved at 1% rGF, whereas virgin glass fiber (vGF) showed 29.1% improvement. Based on these results and the observed SEM analysis, a conceptual mechanistic framework and theoretical formula are proposed. The findings show that this catalytic process can recover glass fibers with high epoxy removal efficiency, and even substantial epoxy residue can be used to improve the mechanical performance of mortar composites, supporting and offering a sustainable pathway for valorizing blade waste across multiple material systems.
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BibTeX
@article{mekonnen2026lowtemperature,
title = {{Low-temperature catalytic chemical recycling of WTB-GFRP waste for glass fiber recovery and reuse}},
author = {Hiwot Tadesse Mekonnen and Su Qian and Chen De and Micheale Yihdego Gebreyohanes and Melese Tibebu Tegegne},
journal = {Communications Chemistry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s42004-026-02235-9},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-026-02235-9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Low-temperature catalytic chemical recycling of WTB-GFRP waste for glass fiber recovery and reuse
AU - Hiwot Tadesse Mekonnen
AU - Su Qian
AU - Chen De
AU - Micheale Yihdego Gebreyohanes
AU - Melese Tibebu Tegegne
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Communications Chemistry
DO - 10.1038/s42004-026-02235-9
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-026-02235-9
AB - The growing disposal of wind turbine blades composed of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) poses a major recycling challenge. In this study, we present a low-temperature catalytic chemical recycling method on GFRP blade waste for glass fiber recovery and evaluation of the mechanical performance of mortar reinforced with recovered glass fibers (rGF). The GFRP was degraded using Mn(acac)₃ in dimethyl sulfoxide at 110 °C, achieving 92.69% epoxy removal efficiency. A significant flexural strength up to 66.04% was achieved at 1% rGF, whereas virgin glass fiber (vGF) showed 29.1% improvement. Based on these results and the observed SEM analysis, a conceptual mechanistic framework and theoretical formula are proposed. The findings show that this catalytic process can recover glass fibers with high epoxy removal efficiency, and even substantial epoxy residue can be used to improve the mechanical performance of mortar composites, supporting and offering a sustainable pathway for valorizing blade waste across multiple material systems.
SN - 2399-3669
ER -