Circular and safe solution for synthetic turf pitches

Introduction

Synthetic turf sports pitches are highly demanded, offering optimal playability in all weather conditions. However, they raise some concern due to the presence of hazardous chemicals/substances, mainly derived from rubber from end-of-life tyres, and intentionally added microplastics which could impact human health and the environment.

Current Challenges

Moreover, the current end-of-life management of turf pitches is unsustainable. In most cases, end-of-life turf pitches are sent to incineration or landfill. Therefore, alternatives to develop safe and sustainable turf pitches are required to be aligned with European policies and future legislation.

Project Overview

In this sense, the LIFET4C project will create a new value chain to demonstrate a safe and sustainable turf system while achieving the strict technical requirements and end users' needs. Key aspects of the project include:

1. An alternative material to the rubber from end-of-life tyres will be implemented, based on recycled polyethylene safety formulated.
2. LIFET4C will not include intentionally added microplastics.
3. An efficient plastics retention system will be integrated into the pitch to avoid plastics leakage into the environment.
4. The project will integrate sustainable end-of-life management, including an optimal dismantling and sorting system allowing the separation of the turf elements into materials families for reuse or recycling.

Partnership

Our project gathers six partners from two European countries who are leaders in different fields of knowledge, including:

• Plastics recycling
• Formulation & compounding
• Turf systems design and building
• Technical experts in turf sports systems
• Plastics retention systems
• End-of-life management of sport systems
• Technical experts in health applied to sports

Expected Outcomes

Adoption of the LIFET4C value chain will produce relevant outcomes, including:

• A reduction of 40.96% of CO2 emissions per pitch produced compared to conventional ones.
• No microplastics released.
• Avoiding the use of 1,312.5 kg of hazardous substances per pitch.