Artificial turf (AT) has been gaining ground as a substitute for natural grass, due to its numerous benefits. Since its use is growing fast worldwide, a new environmental issue has been created: What to do with the turf that is worn-out or needs to be replaced? Approx. 50 million m2 of sports turf were disposed worldwide in 2017, and the volume is expected to increase by >70% in 2021. However, there is still no sustainable solution for processing and disposal of every AT component within the booming AT market. Until now the disposal options for end-of-life turf have been limited to landfill and incineration, apart from a few cases of re-use and largely inefficient recycling solutions. These solutions deliver sub-optimal materials, and do not provide any solution for the plastic component, which is not upcycled.
The increasing amount of AT that has reached the end of its life needs to be managed responsibly, as it is classified as waste and it is a criminal offence in many parts of the globe to lift, transport, and store used synthetic turf without a waste license. ATs have been identified as an environmental threat as the mounting regulatory pressures for sustainability. Our method of upcycling and reuse will remove any foreign impurities, dust and micro particles from the infill in order to be able to use the worn out turf as new raw materials for production of new turf. Upcycling of the plastic fibres to turf yarns will secure that fibres are cleaned, rejuvenated, and subsequently used to produce plastic items thus completing the full life cycle.
The following objectives have been pursued:
• Investigate the optimal technical solutions for the dissolvent, hardware, machinery and related production methods;
• Plan the technical setup and installation of a pilot plant for upscaling the production of resin from clean plastic fibers, according to the CreaSolv process;
• Quantify and assess the environmental impact, regarding the replacement of current turf yarn production methods with the patented upcycling-based AT resin production;
• Assess the requirements demanded by environmental regulatory authorities according to different geographical markets, thereby complying with current national legislations;
• Assess the network of stakeholders for the viability of the value chain, including suppliers (end-users), customers (turf and yarn manufacturers), and lawmakers & regulators;
• Forge strategic partnerships within professional sport organizations for the purpose of demonstration activities, testifying the user’s acceptance of the upcycled process;
• Fine-tune the potential business models and pricing and review preliminary estimates of the business case after 5 years of market introduction;
• Explore alternatives for developing new applications for this technology
