SUMMER 2022 / REAL-LEADERS.COM 61 BUSINESS & INNOVATION 03 WIND TURBINE BLADES BECOME PART OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY A bike shelter in Aalborg, Denmark, has been made from a used wind turbine blade. It’s one solution to a growing problem — what to do with turbine blades at the end of their life. The first generation of turbines, built in the 1990s, is coming to the end of their useful life, and while the blades help the environment during use, they are less eco-friendly afterward. Blades are made from advanced composite materials that make them light and very strong, but this also makes them difficult to recycle. There will be an estimated 43 million tons of old blades to dispose of by 2050, but their lightness and strength mean that many could have a second life as transport shelters, poles for power lines, roofing for buildings, or even footbridges. Siemens Gamesa, a Spanish-German renewable energy company, launched the world’s first fully recyclable blade in September 2021 and is working with energy firm RWE to put the new blades into use offshore as part of its goal to make all turbines fully recyclable by 2040. However, until this technology becomes widespread, we’ll need to find innovative ways to reuse old blades. So what would you do with a used wind turbine blade? n 02 REIMAGINING THE WORKPLACE IN A COVIDWORLD Portugal is making it illegal for a boss to text their employees after work. Companies will be fined for contacting staff outside office hours, and monitoring employees working from home is also forbidden. Firms must also now contribute to expenses such as electricity and Internet bills incurred by staff working from home. Portugal’s parliament has approved these changes to its labor laws to improve people’s work-life balance and in response to the increase in home working from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the new rules could make parents’ lives easier because they are allowed to work from home at any time without giving notice if their children are under eight years old. The changes in law only apply to companies with at least 10 employees, yet Portugal is not the first country to recognize employees’ rights outside the office. In 2017, French workers won the right to ignore emails sent outside office hours, and this “right to disconnect” could soon become part of EU law after the number of people in the EU working from home doubled last year. So, how has the pandemic affected your work-life balance, and what measures have you put in place to pivot to the new reality of the home office? The World Economic Forum is the premier international institution for public-private cooperation. It connects communities of leaders around global issues through high-level meetings, research, initiatives, and digital networks. A nonprofit, it is impartial and independent and believes dialogue and cooperation between business, government, and civil society can improve the state of the world. WeForum.org THERE WILL BE AN ESTIMATED 43 MILLION TONS OF OLD BLADES TO DISPOSE OF BY 2050
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