Circularity
Minimise waste and move to circularity by default
Circularity must be an underpinning principle of sustainability in the renewables industry, with material and resource management linked to whole-life carbon, nature positivity and social value. We are continuing to collaborate with our contractors and supply chain to drive circularity throughout the lifecycle of renewable generation and storage assets in its current and future fleet, from manufacturing through to the use phase and finally the assets’ end-of-life.
Our goals
Lead circular by default supply chain growth through robust and transparent understanding and reporting of our baseline
Goal 1 +Lead circular by default supply chain growth through robust and transparent understanding and reporting of our baseline
Goal 1Using the waste hierarchy as the guiding principle, SSE Renewables strives to adopt a “circular by default” strategy to ensure efficient resource and material usage across the lifecycles of its projects. This strategy falls into two asset categories:
- those that are defined and designed by a third party
- those that are under the direct design control of SSE Renewables.
For the former, SSE Renewables is collaborating with its suppliers and other relevant stakeholders to ensure sustainable decisions are integrated into the design, where feasible and cost-effective. In the case of the latter, SSE Renewables is working to understand the levers to drive circularity and carbon reduction into its designs. This includes efforts to understand the potential benefits of material substitutions and the overall design approach for certain structures, including onshore wind turbine foundations.
In 2024/25, the circularity strategies for battery energy storage systems and wind turbine blades have seen significant progress through SSE Renewables’ collaboration with Innovate UK’s Catapult Network. Progress is detailed in the case study boxes below.
Avoid landfill for at least 95% of operational site waste
Goal 2 +Avoid landfill for at least 95% of operational site waste
Goal 2Each year, SSE sets waste targets which apply across its businesses. SSE Renewables’ target for 2024/25 for its wholly owned assets was to divert 95% of site waste by tonnage from landfill and to ensure at least 55% of site waste by tonnage was recycled.
Over 2024/25, SSE Renewables generated a total of 439.5 tonnes of waste from its wholly-owned operational sites. Of this, 97% was diverted from landfill and 59% was recycled, therefore SSE Renewables achieved its annual targets. This is in line with last year 2023/24 whereby SSE Renewables generated 319 tonnes of waste, of which 93% was diverted from landfill and 59% was recycled. Over 2024/25, SSE Renewables focused on strengthening contractual requirements for its key waste contractors, as well as deep-dive audits at its hydro operational sites.
Waste diverted from landfill
2022/23: 92%
2023/24: 93%
2024/25: 97%
Waste recycled
2022/23: 58%
2023/24: 59%
2024/25: 59%
Publish a Circularity Strategy and implementation plan
Goal 2 +Publish a Circularity Strategy and implementation plan
Goal 2SSE Renewables is continuing to develop a circularity strategy with a range of activities underway that will ensure this strategy positions the company as a driving force behind sustainable asset management in the energy industry. These activities include, but are not limited to:
- Policy monitoring in the UK and the EU, including the developing and new legislation and guidance that will impact the renewable energy industry such as the Net Zero Industry Act and the forthcoming Circular Economy Act.
- Supply chain engagement, including understanding new sustainable technologies offered by turbine suppliers and how these can embed circularity by design features in SSE Renewables’ wind farms.
- Industry collaboration on key opportunities for circularity, including SSE Renewables taking a leading role in defining the future of the Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity (CWIC). 2025 will see the opportunity landscape prioritised by the CWIC Steering Committee in collaboration with The Carbon Trust, leading to the definition of work packages that will further enable the wind industry to deploy reused, refurbished and re-manufactured minor components parts in a safe and commercially positive manner.
- Supporting fundamental circularity research through SSE Renewables supporting an IDCORE Engineering Doctorate student. This research is focussed on the circularity risks and opportunities associated with fixed bottom offshore wind and is in its third and final year.
Circularity in practice
Responsible and Sustainable Battery Management
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are a vital technology on the UK’s road to net zero, providing grid flexibility in a system of a high percentage of renewable energy penetration. With the proliferation of lithium-ion batteries in both energy systems and transport, it is essential that these assets are managed to maximise circularity and to minimise carbon. To address this, SSE Renewables worked CPI, as part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, to explore opportunities for promoting sustainable BESS from manufacturing through to usage and end-of-life.
Responsible decommissioning of end-of-life BESS is crucial to the industry to avoid landfill and to recover raw materials, such as lithium. A key consideration of this study was the end-of-life optioneering SSE Renewables has upon BESS decommissioning, examining the opportunities for deploying second life BESS into other applications and the recycling technologies that are under development within the UK and beyond. As a result of this work SSE Renewables is better equipped to plan for BESS decommissioning and will continue to challenge our BESS suppliers to ensure that our batteries are designed with end-of-life in mind to promote cradle-to-grave circularity in our assets.
Collaboratively Developing Circular Disposal Strategies for Wind Turbine Blades
Wind turbine blades present a challenge to the renewables industry because they are difficult to sustainably dispose of at the end of their operation life. This is due to them being made of composite materials, which cannot yet be truly recycled at scale or in a commercially viable way. SSE Renewables is actively working to develop an understanding of how to balance cost, embedded carbon and circularity for the onshore blades that will be decommissioned in the next decade across the UK and Ireland.
Due to the scale of the challenge this work is being carried out in collaboration with a range of stakeholders in the SusWIND programme, which is run by the National Composites Centre, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. SSE Renewables was a founding member of SusWIND, which is now in its fifth year and is delivering a robust data-driven approach to sustainable blade disposal through demonstrations and a deep engagement with the domestic supply chain. The outputs and learning of SusWIND is being combined with internal work underway at SSE Renewables to ensure the forthcoming onshore fleet decommissioning will champion circular blade disposal strategies.