The challenges of artifical soccer turfs
The last 20 years, there has been an explosion in the use of artificial soccer turfs, worldwide. With a short life span, and with build up of primary plastic and rubber , there is a high volume of fields and waste which today very often has an unclear and undocumented faith.
LIFESPAN
An artificial turf has an average lifespan of 12-13 years, before having to be replaced
CONTENT
A large turf weighs approx. 220 tons; consisting of 100 tons sand, 100 tons rubber and 20 tons of grass fiber and backing.
WASTE
A worn-down turf is treated as waste, but through a separation process, raw material can be extruded.
NOT SUSTAINABLE
Worn down turfs are not managed in a sustainable manner, ending up in nature, backyards, delivered to the landfill, burned or sold to companies taking them abroad with unclear faith.
Did you know that?
of national greenshouse gasses comes from transport
Of cost for a new turf is from removing the old and buying new raw material
of emission of microplastic comes from artificial soccer turfs
Three main pain points that must be addressed
Extensive use of trucks
To transport a large soccer field from the installation point to its destination, 10-12 semi trucks are needed. This often leads to thousands of kilometers being traveled for every worn down turf. In addition, the same amount of trucks are needed to bring new sand and infill back to the new field. With this setup, the industry contributes to the emission of large amount of greenhouse gasses, roads are congested and trafic safety is reduced.
High cost both for wallet and the environment
With high gate fee cost to bring turfs to landfills or fixed recycling plants, and high cost for transport, managing a worn down turf is expensive. This is one of the reasons why many choose “simpler” solutions to manage the old turf. In addion, if a new field is to be installed, the turf owner have to re-purchase new raw material like sand, infill and shock pads. No re-use of old material forces a constant production of virgin material which keeps consumption of new raw material high.
Reduced national value creation and competitiveness
Today, the raw material from artificial soccer turfs are either burned, lost or exported abroad. There is a lot of local industries using plastic, rubber and sand in their production processes. They would benefit to have access to low cost, clean, high quality raw material from local sources, which will strengten their competitiveness in a though international market.