Currently, the RECONTURF project, funded by Spain's Valencia Innovation Agency (AVI), is developing new artificial turf recycling methods to avoid waste artificial turf being thrown into landfills. Different types of plastics recovered from waste turf can be used to create new artificial turf.
There are many advantages to installing artificial turf, such as increasing the amount of time spent playing sports and saving water when maintaining the turf. However, when artificial turf reaches the end of its life cycle (5 to 10 years after installation), it is difficult to recycle. This is because artificial grass is made from different kinds of plastics, which melt at different temperatures and have different viscosities. These plastics are not all thermoplastics, for example, the adhesive of artificial turf is made of polyurethane or latex, both of which are thermoset materials that are not easily degraded and recycled. As a result, more and more waste artificial turf is being sent to landfills. With the exception of rubber particles, which are used as fillers for artificial turf fields.
LED BY AIMPLAS, A SPAIN-BASED PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY CENTRE, WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF ACTECO AND REALTURF, THE RECONTURF PROJECT AIMS TO PROMOTE A CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE ARTIFICIAL TURF INDUSTRY BY INCREASING RECYCLING RATES THROUGH INNOVATIVE WASTE TREATMENT METHODS AND OBTAINING HIGHER QUALITY MATERIALS TO ENSURE THEY ARE RECYCLED. The project will focus on the development of new recycling processes, including bio/enzymatic degradation and chemical recovery (glycolysis) of polyurethane adhesives. This technology separates different materials for subsequent mechanical recycling. This ensures that artificial turf products made up of polypropylene, PET and polyurethane are recycled.
The project will affect the entire value chain of the artificial turf industry, making industrial implementation possible.