Renewables such as wind energy are integral to a sustainable circular economy. However, the development of wind energy infrastructure requires millions of tonnes of materials while sustainable end-of-use solutions for ageing first-generation turbines are underdeveloped (Velenturf 2021). While the wind industry is adopting circular economy solutions, there are substantial gaps in viable, sustainable and circular business models (Mendoza, Gallego-Schmid et al. 2022) as they generally are not considering whole system social, environmental and economic costs and benefits with and for stakeholders involved. Such solutions thus may not operate in a manner that is conducive to a sustainable and circular economy
and, moreover, the viability of circular business models for wind may be compromised. Choosing the most suitable combination of circular economy strategies is complex as they each carry
different sustainability costs and benefits depending on context. Existing decision-making frameworks forend-of-use wind infrastructure strategies have considerable weaknesses by not considering e.g.
decommissioning legislation, basic policy such as the full waste hierarchy, or the complete spectrum of circular economy strategies that can add considerable values to environmental, social and economic
aspects.
This study aims to develop a framework and tools for the coproduction of integrated solutions that constructively deliberate costs and benefits, as part of transition processes for a sustainable circular
economy, involving coordinated change at multiple system scales in order to coproduce viable circular business models for the wind industry. It will result in a step-by-step guide for preparing and deciding on
sets of circular economy strategies for the wind industry, tailored to specific geographic and temporal contexts.
Figure 1. Comparative case study design for the development and piloting of the decision-making framework and all tools.
The full publication can be found here: A Participatory Circular Economy Decision-Making Framework to Build Regional Circular Wind Industries
