A stochastic multicriteria decision-making framework for the assessment and implementation of circular business models for the sustainable end-of-life management of wind turbine blades

By 2030, Europe will confront the significant challenge of recycling over 100,000 tons of wind turbine blades (WTBs) annually, which are inherently difficult to process due to their composite construction, including materials such as glass and/or carbon fibre reinforced polymers thermoplastics, wood or foams, coatings and metals. Accordingly, there is a critical need for innovative circular business models (CBMs) to facilitate reuse, repurposing, recycling and recovery strategies for the sustainable WTB end-of-life (EoL) management. This paper proposes a conceptual stochastic multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework that incorporates key sources of uncertainty in both criteria weights and values to assess and compare the sustainability of six CBMs applicable to WTBs that have been identified from the literature. We argue that CBMs that consistently perform well across multiple criteria, regardless of the applied weightings, may represent the most triple-bottom-line balanced options. On the other hand, CBMs that show exceptional performance when a specific criterion is prioritized may be considered more specialized solutions, but potentially less balanced in overall sustainability. The analysis aims to guide stakeholders involved in the EoL management of WTBs in selecting strategies with Low Technological Readiness (TRL) that best align with the goals of the triple bottom line for the future deployment of sustainable value chains in the sector.