Currently, there are about 29,000 onshore wind turbines connected to the grid in Germany, about half of which are more than 15 years old. Many of the PV systems from the first solar boom in the early 2000s will also soon reach the end of their useful life. In addition to the Building Code and the Federal Immission Control Act, the five-tier waste hierarchy of the Circular Economy Act sets the framework for the decommissioning of wind turbines. The technical specification IEC/TS 61400-28-2, currently under development, provides applicable procedures – serving as a bridge between German law and international practice.
German pioneering work becomes an international standard
The groundwork laid by German standardization experts, with structured recommendations for the decommissioning of wind turbines, forms the basis. International standardization also builds on this groundwork. The national guidelines are transformed into an internationally agreed-upon specification – with a common basis for terminology and procedures, comparable documentation, and alignment with international certification. This reduces friction losses in cross-border recycling chains.
Repowering, reusing, and recycling
At the end of a turbine's life, the international specification IEC/TS 61400-28:2025 supports the decision between continued operation, service life extension, and repowering – the replacement of old turbines with more powerful new ones at the same location. Reuse takes precedence over recycling: turbines – formalized in the photovoltaic sector through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive – or components are put back into service elsewhere. When it comes to recycling, over 90 percent of the materials in wind turbines can be reused: the rotor blades, for example, are used as aggregate in the cement
industry, and the permanent magnets provide the rare earth elements neodymium and dysprosium. For PV modules, up to 95 percent is considered recyclable. Key raw materials here include silicon, silver, and copper, among others. A comprehensive IEC framework is being established for wind energy, while the rules for photovoltaics are defined by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. This benefits all parties: the orderly recovery of materials reduces the environmental burden and provides policymakers with predictability. What was once purely a waste disposal task is now becoming a circular-economy-oriented phase of plant management. This directly contributes to the EU's goal of sourcing one-quarter of its
strategic raw material needs through recycling within Europe by 2030.
