Scottish wind farm recovers 99.9% of materials during dismantling

The 26 turbines that marked Scotland’s first commercial wind farm are gone from Hagshaw Hill, near Douglas in South Lanarkshire. Removed in 2023 after nearly 30 years of operation, they made way for 14 larger turbines that brought the site back onstream in late 2025 with 80MW of generating capacity, compared with the original 15.6MW.

The dismantling became a test of what happens to a wind farm after its first life. Mott MacDonald, led by head of decarbonisation Mark Crouch, analysed project data and interviewed stakeholders for ScottishPower Renewables. Its review found 99.9% total material recovery: 79.5% of components were recycled and 20.4% were reused or retained as spare parts. Nearly all the material was kept out of landfill.

Some of the most difficult components are the blades. Northern Ireland-based Plaswire shredded Hagshaw’s decommissioned blades and mixed the composite material with recycled waste plastics to create RX Polymer. The material can replace concrete, timber and virgin plastics in products including site fencing, marker posts and drainage components. Other reused parts will support training as the industry prepares to repower more of its early wind farms.

The practical payoff is local as well as technical. 100% of the recycling and component retention took place in the UK, supporting domestic green jobs and at least 10 supply-chain companies. Plaswire says its output this year is 50% above last year’s level, while its workforce is expected to double over the next year; those are company projections, not an independent market forecast.

So what changes for people building and operating wind farms? Hagshaw Hill gives developers a documented route for taking old equipment apart, finding uses for components and feeding material into UK suppliers while new turbines return to service. ScottishPower says it has a gigawatt of turbines due to come down over the next 10 years and wants competition among recycling and reuse providers to keep costs low. The approach has been demonstrated at one site, and its wider economics will depend on how consistently future projects can reproduce the result.