A wind turbine blade recycling bill sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, received final approval by the state Senate on Monday and is now headed to Gov. Jay Inslee to be signed into law.
According to a statement released by Wilson, Senate Bill 5287 would create a study by Washington State University on the feasibility of recycling wind turbine blades once they have reached the end of their useful lives. Disposal of turbine blades has become an environmental concern as early wind turbines are decommissioned.
SB 5287 was unanimously approved by the state Senate on Feb. 27 and unanimously approved by the state House on April 11. However, the House added an amendment that sent the bill back to the Senate for reapproval, which it unanimously received on Monday.
“What we do with wind turbine blades has become an environmental concern,” Wilson said. “We’ve been putting up windmills on a large scale since the 1990s, to make our energy green and clean. But those blades don’t last forever, and simply cutting them up and dumping them in landfills seems to defeat the spirit.”
According to Wilson’s statement, wind turbine blades typically last 20 years and are made of steel, plastic and fiberglass. Blades vary in size and can reach a span of 170 feet or more.
