The Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA) has issued a Request for Proposal to create a protocol for waste operators providing end-of-life synthetic turf sports surfacing treatment as well as the maintaining of a verification process for operators and their sites.

The creation of the protocol is commissioned in collaboration with the Football Foundation and Sport England. It should help UK sports governing bodies to formulate policies for the responsible disposal of end-of-life synthetic turf.

Creation of criteria would be set against the different materials and system types that each supplier would be expected to meet to become an “approved supplier” for the disposal of synthetic sports systems. This could include a tiered system to allow for those who meet all of the optimal criteria and those who can meet the essential criteria, but not all the desired criteria.

SAPCA’s Quality Control Protocol for End-of-Life Sports Turf disposal would be developed to provide a robust framework of obligations which suppliers need to follow to demonstrate compliance with current legislation and regulatory requirements.

The verification process that needs to be created should expect each supplier to submit a certain set of information, including:

• reviewing company licences/permits to handle, store and treat synthetic turf sports systems and their component parts
• reviewing processes for lifting end-of-life turf and transportation to a treatment plant
• reviewing treatment processes, including general site inspection
• reviewing the onward use of generated outputs
• annual review of the above
• costings to provide the above services per application.

Prospective future

Research undertaken by BELAP Consultants for Sport England in 2023 reported there were approximately 1,500 11-a-side 3G synthetic turf football or rugby pitches in England. Approximately 100 of these require resurfacing per year. Furthermore, they also estimated that there is a backlog of approximately 30% that is now overdue for replacement. Additionally, the Football Foundation is continuing to invest in new synthetic turf football pitches, installing around 100 new fields each year. There are also approximately 2,500 small-sided football pitches, many of which are owned and operated by the private sector.

England Hockey data estimates that there are around 1,350 water-dressed and sand-dressed full-size synthetic turf pitches in England, of which around 840 are used for hockey. It is estimated that at least 10% should be resurfaced each year.

The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) database of club courts shows that there are around 4,000 synthetic turf courts. Approximately 400 courts require to be resurfaced every year.

Deadline for submissions is 3 November 2025.