Lyndsey Ward tells it as it is (“Rural citizens flung under Big Energy’s gravy train”, Letters, July 30).
Many wind farms in Scotland are now due for decommissioning and/or repowering. Wind turbines are largely recyclable, but their huge blades are not, so what will happen to them?
The number of redundant blades will surely outnumber any efforts towards the ridiculous idea of using them as playground equipment and garden furniture, shedding vast amounts of microplastics into the environment in the process.
There is only one turbine blade recycling plant proposed near Beith at the moment which will be unable to cope with the sheer number of blades so will they be shipped abroad to be ground down for use in concrete, an energy intensive process or buried in landfill in Scotland?
Correspondence with the Scottish Government tells us that “In terms of private owners of wind turbines this is not a typical local authority waste matter. Councils generally deal with municipal waste only and this would not be categorised as such. A specialist waste contractor would need to be involved in disposal.”
What does that mean exactly and what has happened to the damaged blades which have already been replaced over the years and those which have fallen off or suffered fire damage such as those at Whitelee and Ardrossan Wind Farm?
There is a lot of secrecy surrounding this issue but one thing is certain, owners of wind turbines cannot be allowed to just make their own arrangements or Scotland could end up being one large wind turbine blade dump.
Aileen Jackson, Scotland Against Spin, Uplawmoor
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