The phrase “too big to fail” typically applies to financial institutions with a profound impact on international financial markets or state-owned entities (SOEs) that provide essential services. Re-Match falls into neither category. However, its swift entry into the synthetic turf sector and consistent focus on recycling end-of-life turf, as well as offering reclaimed materials for new high-end synthetic turf products, single-handedly transformed the perception of synthetic turf and the international industry. Its bold claim: initially, of rolling out a network of 24 plants all over the world within a decade this notion was further reinforced by the exponential growth in the number of countries with large stockpiles of end-of-life turf awaiting processing.

It is true that Re-Match benefitted significantly from European subsidies to develop and refine its processes. However, the company also opened the eyes of environmentalists, who had increasingly become influential in governmental institutions over the past decade, particularly in EU offices in Brussels. Re-Match demonstrated that circularity in the synthetic turf sector is achievable. A notable testament to this is the company’s exclusive invitation to assist the European Commission in establishing a framework for drafting category rules to determine the environmental footprint of a product.