Técnicas Reunidas wins the Retina sustainable ecosystem award

Técnicas Reunidas and Reciclalia have received the Retina Sustainable Ecosystem Award, promoted by the newspaper El País and the consulting firm Capgemini, for their joint project on the development of a technology for the recycling of fiberglass to reduce the carbon footprint of wind turbines.

The Retina ECO Awards ceremony was presided over by Queen Letizia and attended by the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant; the Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen; the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas; the President of PRISA, Joseph Oughourlian, and the CEO of Capgemini, Luis Abad, as well as various executives from the finalist companies and members of the jury.

The aim of these awards, which have been presented for the first time, is to recognize the best projects developed by Spanish companies in the field of the fight against climate change and sustainability through the use of technology. The awards are given in four categories: efficient consumption, green generation, intelligent mobility and sustainable ecosystem.

In this first edition, the jury, made up of representatives of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, CEOE, Santander, Iberdrola, Ferrovial and the Complutense University of Madrid, among other important companies and institutions, had to analyze a total of 122 projects submitted for the awards.

The project developed by Técnicas Reunidas and Reciclalia offers a technological solution to a growing problem: the fiberglass waste generated by wind turbine blades that are reaching the end of their useful life and whose burial in landfills has become an unsustainable alternative, according to the opinion of wind farm operators themselves. It should be noted that the first wind farms were installed 20 years ago and that, in the next ten years, some 30,000 new wind turbines will be installed in Europe alone.

The Técnicas Reunidas and Reciclalia project makes it possible to obtain clean recycled fiber from the waste produced by wind turbines reaching the end of their useful life, valorize the polymer by obtaining a pyrolysis oil suitable for industrial uses, optimize the entire process from the energy point of view and market the recycled composite materials, making it a clear example of circular economy.

The advantages derived from this technological solution can be seen in the fact that the use of recycled glass fiber avoids the emission of 166 tons of CO2 per wind turbine throughout its useful life.

Therefore, it is a project fully aligned with awards that have been described by their own promoters as “awards for innovation and talent to save the planet”.