Tussle over artificial football pitches comes to a head(er)

Brussels wants to ban artificial grass sports pitches made from recycled tires — but footballers and industry players are warning of an own goal.

A proposal from the European Commission would ban microplastics from being added to sports fields, cosmetics and cleaning products because of their negative environmental impact. It also targets products derived from old tires like artificial football pitches and children’s playgrounds — a prospect that has Europe’s tire, recycling and sports industries crying foul.

According to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), 42,000 tons of microplastics added to products end up in the environment every year, with granules used in artificial turf making up 16,000 tons. The granules help the turf stand up and also provide a softer foundation that reduces injuries to players.

The use of old tires in artificial turf has increased in recent years, partly due to a ban on landfilling scrap tires in the EU, the agency says.

Scientific research has shown that chemicals from these rubber playgrounds and sports pitches could be polluting the sea with harmful chemicals like cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals and phthalates.

"We know that these football fields have to be reapplied with tons and tons of this material almost every year," said Claudia Halsband, a biologist at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research who worked on one such study, suggesting that the granules are finding their way into the marine environment.

But industry groups say a ban on artificial football pitches made from recycled tires — a popular choice of material for such fields — would be disproportionate, pointing to new schemes and techniques designed to help contain the problematic plastic particles.

The Danish Football Association’s sustainability manager Bjarne Christensen labeled the potential ban a "major challenge for grassroots football."

Representatives from EU countries voted to adopt the Commission’s proposal in the REACH Committee — the group of national experts that votes on changes to EU chemicals rules — on Wednesday. The proposal will now be scrutinized by the European Parliament and the Council, which have three months to object and potentially block the measure.

In response to criticism from country representatives, the Commission has revised its proposal to include a longer transition period for the pitches — extending it from six to eight years.

Industry groups still aren’t happy.

Freaked footballers

A full ban could have "significant negative unintended consequences," industry lobbies from the end-of-life tire value chain wrote last week to the Commission in a letter shared with POLITICO.

The bloc’s recycling industry wouldn’t be able to absorb leftover rubber if the EU bans its use in sports pitches, they argue. Because of "limited incineration capacity," that would lead to more tires being exported beyond the EU to be incinerated, increasing emissions and resulting in "further environmental damage."

Groups also argue that a ban on sports pitches made from recycled tires is disproportionate given that steps are already being taken to reduce microplastics pollution. Denmark’s Silkeborg municipality and the Danish Football Association, for example, have collaborated to build the "artificial turf pitch of the future" — complete with fences and drainage systems to limit the release of microplastics.

They also warn that alternative materials for football pitches — like cork or olive pits — may not be suitable for cooler climates. The managing director of one football club complained to Danish news outlet Altinget that its cork pitch transforms into a slippery "ice rink" in freezing temperatures.

Christensen from the Danish Football Association said he wants to see "more solid evidence" on how such materials perform in winter, as well as their potential environmental effects.

The industry had an ally in the Danish environment ministry, which was particularly vocal about its distaste for the Commission’s proposal ahead of Wednesday’s vote. As well as echoing calls for more evidence on alternative materials, the ministry put the "financial consequences" for artificial turf pitch owners at nearly €50 million. Poland, too, joined the resistance. Denmark conceded defeat early on Wednesday.

Representatives from the tire and recycling value chain say they’re being unfairly put on the spot.

"I’m struggling with a sense of context, and proportion," Chris Twigg of Atlantis Rubber Powders recycling company said at an industry event last week, arguing that artificial sports pitches account for far less microplastics pollution than the manufacture and use of new tires on the road.

It "just pales into total insignificance" in comparison, he said.

"I’m not denying that what we’re doing with the microplastic restriction is a small part of the overall microplastic problem," said Patrizia Tosetti, a Commission representative also present at the conference. "But this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do anything about it just because it’s small."

Turf war

NGOs, scientists and the Commission insist sports pitches need to be cleaned up.

While it’s hard to establish direct links between chemical pollution and individual deaths or illnesses, ECHA warns that "exposure to high levels of harmful chemicals through the soft infill material could pose health risks to people using or working on artificial pitches."

In an emailed statement, the Commission also pointed out that the "current recycling of used tires into infill material for artificial sport surfaces cannot be considered as fully circular," as that infill material is "almost never further recycled at end-of-life but is either incinerated or landfilled."

As for what should happen to leftover tires if the ban comes to pass, the Commission pointed to research programs set up to support the industry in finding "more sustainable solutions."

Failure to act on the issue would be environmentally costly, said Hélène Duguy of the environmental legal charity ClientEarth. Although NGOs are "not super happy" with the Commission’s proposal for a longer transition period, suggesting it is too lenient, she still sees the ban as a win.

Halsband, from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, said: "We stand by our claim that they should be completely eliminated from sports pitches in general. They are not safe to use."

This story has been updated.