Maintenance of Wind Turbine Blades and Microplastic Emission: How to Mitigate Environmental Risks

With the expansion of wind energy, and also the aging of the wind turbines, the need for maintenance and repair of wind turbine blades increases. The maintenance and repair of wind turbine blades include grinding and joining parts and can lead to emission of plastic particles, which (for the case of offshore wind turbines) can also be emitted into sea, leading to pollution risks. In this article, the volume of plastic pollution during the blade maintenance as well as particle size distribution is evaluated. Recommendations toward the mitigation of environmental risks due to maintenance and repair of blades are formulated.