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12 April 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: In the technical centre on the campus of the University of Applied Sciences (HTWK), research assistant Dimitrij Seibert from the team led by HTWK Professor of Lightweight Construction with Composite Materials Prof. Dr. Robert Böhm prepares a 4.3-metre-long segment of a 19.3-metre-long, approximately 25-year-old wind turbine rotor blade for a test to determine its mechanical properties. The tests are part of EuReCOMP, an EU-funded collaborative research project that aims to develop sustainable methods for the recycling and reuse of composite materials from wind energy components. Scientists from colleges, universities and institutions in Germany, Portugal, Spain and Greece are currently working on the research project, which will run until 2026. One of the aims is to develop methods to reduce the large amount of waste from obsolete wind turbine blades that will be produced in the coming years and the associated ecological problems at landfill sites using new technologies. Photo: Waltraud Grubitzsch/dpa (KEYSTONE/DPA/Waltraud Grubitzsch)