Making Artificial Turf More Sustainable: Sometimes One Step Back and Then Two Forward |
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Forum on the Sustainability of Artificial Turf Sees Challenges, but Remains Optimistic
Sustainability is a catch-all term—perhaps even more so when it comes to artificial turf. But that doesn't make the topic any less important, especially in a time when sustainability is clearly under political pressure. On 25 February, fifteen representatives from the sports sector came together to discuss the topic. The shortest summary: "We sometimes take small steps back, but we are still making big strides forward."
| Forum: Making Artificial Turf More Sustainable |
As moderator, I immediately throw the first stone into the pond with the statement: "The sustainability of artificial turf is not going well. The best proof is the recent bankruptcy of Re-Match." Gijs Peters of Edel Grass disagrees. "Of course, that bankruptcy is painful. At Edel, we made a clear choice for circular products several years ago. Re-Match was important in that choice, but developments continue. The steps we are taking in the right direction are still greater than the setbacks in the sector. Our goal should be: reusing old artificial turf for new artificial turf."
Polymers
One of the problems is that we often talk about different things when we talk about sustainability. Gerrit de Koe, who describes himself as retired but was formerly a senior advisor for sports and cultural engineering with the city of Amsterdam, puts his finger on the sore spot. "May I divide sustainability into two aspects? Sustainability regarding lifespan, and sustainability regarding the environment." From that perspective, De Koe believes we haven't made major progress. The polymers we use now are, in his view, no better or more sustainable than those from ten years ago, and the fields don't last longer.
De Koe finds little support for his view. Most participants believe that progress has been made in this area, though it may not be very visible. Frank Herbrink of Edel Grass: "Artificial turf manufacturers continuously innovate and seek improvements—especially regarding sustainability. But you do have to be very careful with claims in this field."
Domains
Wim Glaap, commercial manager at Newae: "Sustainability also concerns completely different matters. We have disconnected rainwater from residential areas and redirected it to an artificial turf field to recharge groundwater and prevent rapid drainage. That has never been done before. That's also a form of sustainability. What's great is that you can also free up extra budget that way. Part of the cost was borne by the sports department, but infrastructure and environmental departments also contributed."
According to Glaap, the much-discussed quality assurance system has led to a significant step forward. As a client, you now have more freedom to look at water storage, heat recovery, and circularity in the substructure of sports fields, allowing you to realize and maintain innovative and future-proof sports parks—with or without an adviser.
Colleague adviser Sander Akkerman of Plann Ingenieurs fully agrees: "It's no different in road construction. If you want to have a road or cycle path built, as a civil servant you also have to design the construction yourself (or have it done). So I find it quite logical that this is now also happening in sports."
Money Makes the World Go Round
On the other hand, the entire forum concludes that the market is still ruled by budgets. That certainly seems to be the case for Re-Match. According to De Koe, this company was a leader in terms of sustainability and process purity, but the market was not willing to pay the extra cost. René van Hinthum is director of the companies FamilyGrass and CityGrass. FamilyGrass holds a license for the product PURETi. This is a nanotechnology-based coating that is said to purify the air of fine dust and organic substances, including bacteria and viruses. Van Hinthum: "I've spoken to about 85 municipalities and everyone says: 'great system, really cool, but we don't have the money.'"
The discussion briefly returns to the Re-Match bankruptcy. Peters: "You just have to open the newspaper and you see that recyclers are going bankrupt because the price of virgin plastics is far too low. That reason alone makes Re-Match's business case currently unfeasible."
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