Burgheim, Germany & Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Artificial Turf Industry leaders cooperate to provide stronger artificial grass recycling solution. Burgheim, Germany & Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Sport Group and GBN-AGR have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to join forces in the development of artificial grass recycling infrastructure and technology throughout Europe.
With their respective partners, both companies are already fully supported from leading artificial turf companies in Europe and demonstrate their commitment to provide suitable end-of-life recycling solutions for artificial grass.
The artificial turf recycling company FormaTurf GmbH has recently been established by Sport Group. With a recycling plant under construction in Essen, FormaTurf is about to offer an end-of-life solution for the German market together with its sister company Polytan, the leading installer of artificial grass in Germany. GBN-AGR was established in 2019 as a collaboration between GBN (Strukton), Antea Sport/EdelGrass, TenCate Grass Group/CSC Sport/Greenfields and Domo Sports Grass/Sports & Leisure Group. With a recycling facility in Amsterdam, GBN-AGR focuses on the BENELUX market and creates high quality circular raw materials.
Frank Dittrich, CEO Sport Group said: “The creation of FormaTurf is an important step in the Sport Group’s sustainability strategy and by combining forces with GBN-AGR we will be able to service the industry better, meet current and future government requirements and offer sustainable solutions throughout Europe.”
Eric van Roekel, CEO GBN-AGR said: “Recycling artificial grass successfully at scale, in a circular, safe and responsible manner, is essential for the industry. Standards must be exemplary, and the new circular raw materials must be of high-quality and useful. GBN-AGR provides a full guarantee on the quality, a transparent process and sets the benchmark for circular processing and a consistent supply of high-quality circular raw materials. This partnership with Sport Group will ensure our industry has the best solutions. This partnership gives the market confidence that artificial grass recycling is being taken very seriously.”
Michael Vogel, CEO of TenCate Grass said: “The collaboration between the GBN-AGR partners in the Netherlands is unique. While the artificial grass market is extremely competitive on the ‘front’ side, the same players collaborate closely with each other on the ‘back’ side, i.e. the recycling of artificial turf in order to make circular products. The leading role of GBN with its years of experience in recycling combined with the diligence in setting up the fully permitted facility in Amsterdam was crucial. After all, a large part of the Dutch market involves the replacement of existing fields. Without proper and efficient processing of end-of-life artificial turf fields, replacement demand would fall away totally. The cooperation between GBN-AGR and Sport Group is an important step to make our market circular in the rest of Europe.”
John Penninck, CEO of Sports & Leisure Group / Domo Sports Grass said: “The intended partnership between Sport Group and GBN Artificial Grass Recycling is the confirmation of a shared vision and is a commitment for the future of efficient end-of-life recycling of artificial grass. This initiative is enabled by the largest artificial grass manufacturers and installers in Europe. The partnership will not only respond to the demand for artificial grass recycling but will above all, anticipate to achieve the highest standards in circularity and to take responsibility towards the environment and society.”
