The Synthetic Turf Council (STC) is rallying the industry to oppose a new bill that would require producers to be responsible for reporting the chain of custody of turf from manufacture to its final disposal, reuse or recycling location.

The STC is the custodian for the synthetic turf industry in North America.

The legislation in the Maryland House Bill 131 / Senate Bill 321 wants to hold the synthetic turf producer responsible for 10 to 12 years after the company originally sold a synthetic turf field to the field owner.

The STC is of the view that any chain of custody reporting for synthetic turf fields should do three things: place the reporting responsibility with the owner of the field, prioritise alternative uses, and identify the most economical and environmentally responsible end-of-life options.

At present, the STC encourages as much reuse and recycling of fields and their components as possible, and the industry is investing in new recycling techniques and facilities to get to full recyclability. You can read more about this here.

“Despite numerous meetings to discuss the reprints following an amendment or change, it is still clear that the intention of the legislation is to establish a path for future extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws – not to prevent illegal dumping or enforce stricter penalties for violators,” the STC said in an email.

“In order to be able to handle matters like this more effectively in the future, the STC Advocacy/Sustainability Pillar is busy building an effective advocacy machine. The pillar has been assigned the priority goals of developing strategic partnerships to address activity at the state level, convening or actively participating in relevant coalitions, and launching discreet grassroots advocacy action groups among the membership, armed with talking points and training.”