Underrated Electronic Plastics from New Energy Solid Waste: They Should Not Be Incinerated as Trash

How to dispose of wind turbine blades dozens of meters long after decommissioning has long remained a tough challenge. Incineration causes pollution, landfilling occupies massive space, and materials after simple crushing can hardly find high-value applications. This is not merely an issue for wind turbine blades. Photovoltaic modules, energy storage equipment, automobiles and electronic appliances also contain a large volume of structurally complex plastics that are difficult to recycle.

Recently, researchers from the National Energy Group Beijing Low-Carbon Clean Energy Research Institute published a study in Nature Reviews Chemistry, redefining such materials: they should not be regarded as waste, but as "secondary raw materials rich in chemical resources". The paper systematically sorts out specialty plastics found in wind turbine blades, photovoltaic backsheets, energy storage battery separators and electronic appliance housings. Its conclusion is clear: mechanical recycling cannot handle these materials and pyrolysis suffers from low efficiency. The viable solution lies in chemical depolymerization — adopting catalysis, plasma and other technologies to directionally convert polymers into hydrogen, carbon materials and raw materials for energy storage. This is not merely an academic judgment, but also driven by industrial realities. In the coming years, China's first batch of wind and solar power facilities will be decommissioned in large volumes, while recycling capacity lags far behind demand. Whoever first establishes the closed-loop system of "solid waste to raw materials" will secure an important ticket to the rubber and plastics recycling industry in the next decade.

Electronic Plastics: The Underestimated "Urban Mine"

Epoxy resin composites in wind turbine blades, EVA encapsulant films and polymer backsheets in photovoltaic modules, separators and insulating plastic parts in energy storage equipment, as well as modified plastics such as ABS, PC and PP used in automobiles and electronic appliances, all fall into this category of hard-to-recycle materials. They differ fundamentally from beverage bottles and plastic bags. Such materials usually have complex compositions and contain various additives including flame retardants, stabilizers and reinforcing fillers. Some are compounded with glass fiber, metal and other substances. The better the material performance, the harder it becomes to disassemble and sort after decommissioning. This explains why electronic plastics have long been underestimated.

In the past, industrial recycling focused more on high-value materials such as copper, cobalt, nickel and precious metals, while complex plastics often turned into low-value residues, either downgraded for pelletizing or directly sent for incineration or landfilling. Nevertheless, these materials are far from valueless. The research by National Energy Group puts forward a solution: build highly active reaction systems via catalytic depolymerization, electrified reactions, plasma and other technologies to directionally break down polymers into hydrogen, carbon materials and energy storage raw materials. In other words, the problem is not that electronic plastics lack value, but that previous recycling systems failed to find proper ways to extract such value.

The Wave of Decommissioning Has Truly Arrived

Over the past decade, China has massively installed power capacity for wind power, photovoltaics and new energy vehicles. Yet one issue has been overlooked: how to handle these assets after decommissioning.

Pressure on the wind power sector. By the end of 2025, China's installed wind power capacity reached 640 GW, ranking first globally. Before 2030, old units with more than 15 years of service will be phased out intensively, generating as much as 1.2 million tons of waste fiberglass blades alone. The epoxy resin composites in these blades are widely recognized as one of the most problematic electronic plastics for disposal.

Photovoltaic industry also faces heavy pressure. The China Photovoltaic Industry Association forecasts that waste photovoltaic modules will hit 1.4 million tons by 2030. The EVA encapsulant and polymer backsheets inside modules are all electronic plastics. Two major challenges emerge simultaneously, while current recycling capacity cannot even process a fraction of the waste. This top-journal paper from National Energy Group represents both a theoretical breakthrough and a warning for the whole industry.

Intensive Policy Rollout

Policy responses accelerated markedly in 2026. The 15th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development issued by the National Development and Reform Commission sets an industrial scale target of 8 trillion yuan. It explicitly requires improving scrapping management for the "Three New Products", enforcing recycling and disposal responsibilities, and further refining recycling networks. The 15th Five-Year Plan for Industrial Green and Low-Carbon Development released by MIIT further promotes the application of recycled materials in key sectors including automobiles, batteries, electrical and electronic products.

Meanwhile, seven government departments jointly issued the Action Plan for Promoting the Application of Recycled Materials, specially boosting the use of recycled plastics. The plan proposes establishing a graded supply system for recycled plastics and supporting leading enterprises to commercialize chemical recycling. Though these policies focus on different areas, they share a clear direction: improve recycling systems, expand the application of recycled materials and push forward industrialization.

For electronic plastic recycling enterprises, the real shift is not that "policymakers start paying attention to recycling", but that recycling is rapidly becoming a rigid requirement within industrial chains.

From Waste Treatment to Raw Material Production

With policies stepping in, enterprises are also exploring practical solutions. Wind turbine blades serve as the most typical example. CRRC Shandong Wind Power deploys mobile processing equipment near wind farms, converting decommissioned blades into regenerated fibers and modified plastic masterbatches to cut costs and challenges caused by long-distance transportation of large blades.

In Yantai, Shandong, processed retired blades are manufactured into artificial reefs. Featuring corrosion resistance, low deformation tendency and high strength, these new-type artificial reefs are applied in marine ranches. In Hami, Xinjiang, retired wind turbine blades are processed into industrial pallets, engineering components and composite boards. The project can handle approximately 10,000 tons of retired blades annually.

Closed-loop recycling for automotive plastics has also emerged. BYD built a 100,000-ton-per-year recycled plastic pellet production line in Fuzhou, of which 88,000 tons are recycled PP exclusively for battery casings and automotive structural parts. Li Auto partnered with Kingfa Technology to realize closed-loop recycling of bumpers: bumpers from end-of-life vehicles are dismantled, stripped of paint via high-temperature steam friction without chemical agents, achieving a paint removal rate exceeding 99%. After modification, the recycled material is directly used for new vehicles.

These cases prove there is more than one route for electronic plastic recycling. Some enterprises regenerate materials, others produce composite building materials, and others explore new application scenarios. The fundamental change is that "waste" is re-entering production chains.

Three Remaining Steps Toward Large-scale Deployment

Technologies and pilot projects have emerged, yet three practical hurdles must be overcome before demonstration projects turn into large-scale commercialization.

Where to source feedstock? Wind farms are located in Gobi deserts and mountainous regions, photovoltaic power stations are widely scattered, and end-of-life vehicles and electronic appliances are distributed across the country. If the costs of front-end collection, dismantling and transportation remain excessively high, even advanced recycling technologies at the back end will struggle to achieve economic viability. Therefore, future recycling systems should not only consider "how to recycle", but also incorporate "how to disassemble after decommissioning" at the product design stage.

How can recycling turn a profit? New technologies such as catalytic depolymerization and plasma open new possibilities, yet commercialization from laboratory scale requires solving challenges related to capital investment, energy consumption and operating costs. In particular, stable and efficient separation of flame retardants, stabilizers and various additives in complex electronic plastics remains a key research priority. Technical feasibility does not equal commercial viability.

Who will buy recycled materials? This is the ultimate question facing the recycling industry. If recycled plastics can only be sold to low-end markets, the price can hardly cover recycling and processing costs. Recycling enterprises will only maintain continuous investment when stable demand for recycled materials is formed in sectors such as automobiles, batteries and electronic appliances. The Action Plan for Promoting the Application of Recycled Materials targets an annual recycled plastic output of 19.5 million tons by 2030. Once demand is fully unlocked, the technology and economic performance of the recycling industry will be further improved.

Conclusion

Wind turbine blades are not garbage, but raw materials misplaced in the wrong place. For the rubber and plastics industry, electronic plastic recycling is not merely a mandatory environmental task, but also a market opportunity. Enterprises that first commercialize chemical depolymerization and directional conversion technologies will gain an upper hand amid the decommissioning wave. Electronic plastics should neither be landfilled nor incinerated. They are "mines" left by the new energy era, waiting to be re-exploited.