Chinese manufacturers speed up wind turbines recycling

Chinese companies have made progress in recycling used wind turbines and turning them into valuable products, as part of the efforts to make the wind power industry more sustainable.

According to reports, steel usually makes up 86 percent of used wind power equipment, with fiberglass making up about 10 percent, copper and aluminum 5.3 percent and rare earth elements 0.5 percent.

The Eling Wind Farm in south China's Guangdong Province has phased out a group of old and inefficient wind turbines, raising its power generation efficiency by more than two times and saving nearly 80 percent of collective land. The person in charge said that key components of the retired generators can be applied to other industries after technical transformation and maintenance, and scrap metals can be recycled into building materials.

Wind turbine blades made from fiberglass have always been difficult to recycle because of their hardness and large size. To solve this problem, a company in east China's Shandong Province has developed a hydraulic cutting robot to cut the blades.

"Through program control and automatic conveying systems, we achieve high levels of mechanized automation to replace the original manual operation, doubling cutting efficiency and addressing the dust problem with hydraulic cutting," said Zhang Min, general manager of wind and solar power production line of Jerry Environmental Protection Technology Company.

Through technological innovation, a company in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has recycled wind turbine blades into composite pallets and building templates. These environmentally friendly products also feature high toughness, excellent waterproof performance and weather resistance.

"We recycled 300,000 kilowatts of wind power systems in the first half of 2024. These recycled wind turbines produced about 70 tons of copper, over 300 tons of aluminum, over 2,000 tons of composite materials, and over 20,000 tons of scrap steel. The effective recycling of these materials has reduced our reliance on foreign raw material suppliers and has reduced carbon emissions in raw materials production," said Cheng Gangqi, director of the Wind and Solar Equipment Recycling Committee of the China National Resources Recycling Association.

Chinese manufacturers speed up wind turbines recycling

Multiple Chinese rescue teams have arrived in the disaster-stricken areas in Myanmar, rushing to work with local responders around the clock to search for survivors following the massive and devastating earthquake that occurred on Friday.

In the hard-hit city of Mandalay, many Chinese rescuers have been working nearly 20 hours to search for lives among collapsed buildings and under the rubble.

The operation has faced significant hurdles with repeated aftershocks in the city complicating the rescue efforts. Despite these challenges, Chinese rescuers have made notable progress, as two dedicated rescue corridors have been established to accelerate the search and rescue process.

So far Chinese teams have rescued six survivors in severely-hit Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay. The rescuers combed through the ruins of apartments, hotels and hospitals to find signs of life. Continuous aftershocks, power cuts, destroyed roads and communication interruptions made their rescue work even harder.

Meanwhile, more Chinese rescue teams are heading to Myanmar, bringing in earthquake experts, structural engineers, medical personnel and canine units, as well as life detectors, demolition equipment and field hospital systems.

Despite challenges like confined working areas, frequent aftershocks, residual fires and dense smoke, local and international rescuers are racing against time, hoping to save more people as the crucial 72-hour window of earthquake rescue closes.

The death toll from the 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 2,056, with approximately 3,900 people injured and nearly 270 reported missing, according to the country's State Administration Council Information Team on Monday.

Chinese rescuers race against time in Myanmar quake relief