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12 April 2024, Saxony, Leipzig: In the technical centre on the campus of the University of Applied Sciences (HTWK), research assistants Philipp Johst (left) and Dimitrij Seibert (right) prepare 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 with HTWK Professor of Lightweight Construction with Composite Materials Prof. Dr. Robert Böhm. 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. Among other things, the aim is to develop methods to reduce the large amount of waste from obsolete wind turbine blades and the associated ecological problems at landfills with new technologies. - Photo: Waltraud Grubitzsch/dpa (KEYSTONE/DPA/Waltraud Grubitzsch)