Artificial turf can be a much more sustainable alternative to real grass on sports fields and pitches and the public-built environment and domestic applications. It requires less maintenance and – importantly – does not need to be watered. However, at only five to ten years, the life span of these products is relatively short. Artificial turf is typically used for high-wear applications such as sports and training facilities, where degradation of the product can have safety and performance implications.
To further exacerbate the sustainability problem faced by the artificial turf sector, conventional waste processing methods are poorly equipped to perform artificial turf recycling effectively – much is discarded to landfills once it reaches the end of life.
Artificial turf cannot be recycled effectively without separating the different plastics used in the product. These plastics – polyurethane or latex for the secondary backing, PET blades, and polypropylene fibers – have different viscosities and melting temperatures. Some, like the thick polyurethane or latex backing material, are not even thermoformed plastics at all.
Some artificial turf recycling companies use mechanical waste processing methods. For example, ReMark uses air, sieving, separation tables, and gravity to break up artificial turf into its constituent plastics. Some facilities also recycle artificial turf by converting it into chips and using them as filler for the newer synthetic turf installation, or in paths and trails.