Non-filled research developments update

13 Mins Read

June 15, 2023

The European Commission has (almost) spoken. Now the race is definitely on: the development of a synthetic turf system that, preferably, doesn’t require any infill to perform. My previous article focused on the development of the product. In this article, I’ll update you on what is happening on the research and legislative side.

By: Guy Oldenkotte

As explained in this article, there are several reasons why non-filled synthetic turf has become a major focus. This focus first gained traction in 2018 when health issues that had possibly been caused by crumb rubber (SBR) infill were thrust into the spotlight, followed by fear of microplastic pollution caused by polymeric infill particles outside the field perimeter. While the first claim has yet to be proven convincingly (to ban the use of SBR), the second claim motivated the European authorities to now propose a ban on the selling of any polymeric infill that measures 1nm≤x≤5mm. Details about the proposed ban and timeline you can read here.

(Unnecessary) sudden focus

Once the penny dropped, stress levels for tufting companies, contractors and the various football governing bodies jumped up a few notches when they realised that the future of synthetic turf was hanging in the balance. Things cooled down only once they realised that at solution had, in fact, been around all along. Parallel to the development of so-called third-generation synthetic turf in the early 2000s, one company had also developed a densely tufted carpet that didn’t require any infill to still accommodate a game of football in accordance with the stipulated requirements for the surface. By the time the concept was officially viewed as the solution, it had been installed in close to 200 clubs around the world. Some of these installations had even been issued with a FIFA One-Star or FIFA Two-Star, or the successor of the FIFA ‘Star’ programme, a FIFA Quality or FIFA Quality Pro certificate that recognised its compliance to the quality criteria that had been defined for these standards. The industry went into a frenzy, with many establishing a research programme dedicated to non-filled synthetic turf^1&2.

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