The first sneakers featuring material sourced from a repowered wind farm
ACCIONA Energía and El Ganso have given a new meaning to circularity with the second edition of their “wind sneakers.” The sneakers now feature soles utilizing blade particulate from a wind farm undergoing repowering.
Both companies have taken a further step toward full circularity with their new “wind sneakers” edition. The model incorporates recycled materials from a blade from Tahivilla, one of the oldest wind farms in Spain. The site is currently being repowered, replacing 98 aging turbines with 13 state-of-the-art wind turbines that dramatically increase efficiency and the capacity to generate 100% clean energy.
After more than 20 years of generating clean energy, one of the wind turbine blades has been transformed into a new design containing real purpose: advancing toward a circular economy and creating solutions that leave a positive footprint on the planet.
20 YEARS OF CLEAN ENERGY: THE HISTORY OF THE BLADE
9.242
MWh generated from a wind blade over its lifetime
5.532
tonnes of CO₂ have been avoided by one wind blade
5.715
equivalent trees to the emissions avoided by one wind blade
IN VIDEO
THE WIND BLADE
The recycled material used in this second edition comes from a wind turbine blade taken down from the Tahivilla wind farm in Cadiz, after more than 20 years of operations. Wind turbine blades are mainly made from epoxy resins reinforced with fiberglass to achieve the necessary properties of strength, flexibility, and weight. Among all the components of a wind turbine, the blades are the most challenging to recycle.
FIBERGLASS POWDER
After years of generating renewable energy from wind, the blade now has a new life: being incorporated into the rubber used to make the soles of El Ganso x ACCIONA sneakers. The blade undergoes a mechanical shredding and grinding process that produces a fine powder of fiberglass and epoxy resins, suitable for use in sole manufacturing.
THE SNEAKERS
The powder obtained from the wind blade is used as raw material for the manufacture of the soles of the El Ganso x ACCIONA sneakers. At the manufacturing plant, it is combined with rubber to obtain a sole that maintains the resistance, adherence and durability properties of conventional sneakers. The process is completed with the assembly of the sole into the shoe and its preparation for subsequent marketing.
EPISODE II: A NEW SPIN ON CIRCULARITY
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE OLD TURBINES?
WIND POWER REPOWERING & CIRCULARITY
Repowering a wind farm means replacing outdated turbines with new, more powerful, and more efficient models. At Tahivilla, 98 older wind turbines are being swapped out for 13 next-generation units. This upgrade significantly improves performance, boosts clean energy production, and reduces environmental impact. But what happens to the old turbines? That’s where the circular economy comes in. A key part of repowering is recycling the dismantled components. At Tahivilla, ACCIONA Energía is giving each part a second life—from the nacelle to the tower sections, concrete bases, cabling, and of course, the blades. The blades, for example, can be turned into torsion beams for solar power plants—or, as in this case, into the soles of wind-powered sneakers.
TAHIVILLA REPOWERING IN FIGURES
6.163
tons of dismantled materials from the old turbines
98 %
of all waste materials recovered and reused
100 %
of the dismantled turbine blades in Tahivilla have been recovered
THE BIG CHALLENGE
RECYCLING WIND TURBINE BLADES
Nearly all materials used in a wind farm—mainly steel, copper, and concrete—are easy to recycle. The blades, however, pose a greater challenge due to their complex makeup: mostly composites (fiberglass or carbon fiber bonded with resins), and smaller amounts of wood, steel, plastic, paint, and more. Today, many decommissioned blades find a second life in the resale market as they’re replaced with newer turbine models. But the wind industry is already working on scalable solutions for the large volume of blades expected to reach end-of-life in the coming years. In Spain alone, it’s estimated that around 20,000 blades will need to be recycled in the near future.
