Draft Surf To Make Boards From Recycled Wind Turbine Blades
It wasn't the best week to release news like this.
As the Gold Coast pumped under the best cyclone swell in years, a scrum of politicians, journos, and at least one surfer, ate canapes in Western Sydney awaiting an announcement.
The news? Draft Surf - that being Josh Kerr's surfboard label - has gone into partnership with Spanish company Acciona Energía to repurpose old wind turbine blades.
Though roughly 90% of a wind turbine can be recycled, they've been maligned in the media for the other 10%. That being the blades which are made from fibreglass reinforced plastic.
As anyone* who's ever burnt a surfboard knows, foam and resin burns incredibly well, but not so fibreglass. Once the resin burns away the matting is left looking near enough new. No great surprise for a material created using furnace-level heat.
Point being: Fibreglass can be seperated from the resin reinforcement and theoretically used again. Which is what Acciona Energía and Draft plan to do.
Lots of things left up in the air. How they'll recycle the fibreglass, how it'll be used in the surfboards, and what price the finished boards will be. No, there's nothing on the Draft site yet.
Read more about the partnership here.
* It was flat, we were young.
Comments
The Kerrupt Flip
The Kerrazy Kronicles
The Kerrbine Blade?
Interesting, yeah I'd be keen to hear how they repurpose the fibreglass from the blades and use them in the new boards.
Couldn't have shot that video in a more ideal location.
Anything's better than dumping them in landfill!! Its much more than 10% that's not currently recycled, lets not sugar coat it guys.
Just checked a few sites, including science journals, and the range is 80% to 95%, by mass, of a turbine can already be recycled. I guess the approximation is based on turbine height and build, but as the tower and internal cabling is steel, and the generator made of various metals, then that all counts as recyclable.
They'll have to make an awful lot of Draft boards to make a dent in the pile of rotor blades.
...and unless there's parity (or close to it) with the market price then it won't succeed anyway.
Think it's always good to advance these technologies though. If govts can legislate that energy companies recycle all parts (as some Scandinavian countries already do) then that'll reduce market cost for recycled laminate.
Hi Stu. Corey V.
I’m in the industry (blade tech and service tech) I can confirm the rate of recycling is on the rise. 90% + is close to it now. When we service, all the old fluids are recycled as well. New blades are now developing to be economically recyclable, but all blades can be recyclable it’s just too expensive. Re-purposing is done at times too.
Thanks for the reply, Corey. Great to hear it straight from the horse's mouth...so to speak.
BTW impressive footage of little bro and K yesterday. Still crazy after all these years.
there're been some pretty amazing material developments the past 5 years.
recyclamine is a thermoset epoxy with a molecular structure that allows the material to be transformed into a thermoplastic resin. This then allows separation of resin and matrix material.
wind turbine manufacturer Siemensgamesa uses it in its newest blades, which would make the turbines almost completely recyclable.
surfboards next?
Just trying to understand where we ended up here. Is it the case circa 90% can be recycled but the amount which IS recycled is something much less?
Unfortunately, the recycling is energy intensive at this stage. Carbon has the best case for recycling due to the cost to make virgin.
Like all things we have to start somewhere. Good on them for having a crack.
F#*K me.....burning a board. That took me WAAAAYYYYY back....
Not sure if we got swell after that - but rituals are important right? What could be bad about a fire on a beach, with beer and friends....except the cloud of toxic blacksmoke...
(My more adult eco-conscious self groans under the memory...)
"My more adult eco-conscious self groans under the memory..."
As did mine.
And who's their marketing video person??? Next level symbolism / angle / tonality / atmosphere..... ticks all the boxes (if you're into that marketing stuff)
Hayden Richards - SA Rips - was involved. He's shot there many times before so I'm sure that, even if he didn't produce it, he had a hand in location scouting and filming.
SA Rips' still work is incredible..
Hi @bungan33 Confirming that we did work with Hayden, SA.Rips on scouting, location and he shot the stills. He is an incredible talent that helped pull this difficult shoot together. We also utilised a local South Australian production crew that SA.Rips put us in touch with. The edit was done by our creative agency DDB Melbourne.
Amazing film production from Oz legend Elliot Grafton @elliotgrafton and his company @eyrefilms, and Ritchie @sa_rips
cool vid, even cooler that kgatlw had a track overlaid - imho best band goin round right now by a country mile
O-Sees
Starcrawler
Viagra Boys
Stiff Richards
COFFIN
Downgirl
Lambrini Girls
Could we just burn the Blades to create cheap electricity
I wonder why recycling other products get less attention; like cars, phones, batteries, microwaves, stoves, fridges, furniture, beds, shoes, clothes, farts & poo....(methane) x 4 billion x days x years
https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane
Phd review on recycling blades in 2024
Maybe build a nice durable teepee (12m ht x8m radius ) humpies for the homeless ?
&
put the white collar crims to work 24/7 offshore from their tax havens... until the noise makes them repent & repay debts.
Newer wind turbine blade tech review 2024
Blowing alota wind on the east coast atm.
I'm an unabashed fanboy of recycling. Given the product lifecycle of these turbine blades, upcycling is the best solution.
I may have missed how the end product compares to a "standard" board?
Love to see what other toys could be made of the composites.
Josh could make a Hanimex Coolite look like my next dream board.
But anyway, looks good.
I may have been involved in burning boards on the local railway line praying for swell-but the train usually arrived first!