At Re-Match, greening works in two directions: firstly, the synthetic grass waste problem is solved in a green way and secondly, the recyclates are given a high-quality new life, whereby virgin raw materials are replaced. This closes the circle for synthetic turf pitches. The ‘boomerang batch’ told the story about MVV Maastricht’s synthetic turf pitch that was left for recycling and returned to the cycle. That story has since been continued.
The original Dutch company CEYES makes the innovative CE Green City panels. These panels serve as a water retention panel and are 100% circular. The panels are pressed from recycled rubber granules from synthetic turf fields and have a lifespan of up to 75 years. Rubber granules that can only be supplied dry and in exactly the required granule size through the advanced Re-Match recycling process. CEYES has thus devised an innovative circular concept. The panels, which offer a solution for water regulation and cooling, respond to climate adaptation within the built environment.
Re-Match gave the worn synthetic turf field of MVV batch number 2507 so that the raw materials remain fully traceable. The pure rubber from that batch was used by CEYES for the production of CE Green City Panels. These panels were given a new destination in Harderwijk on top of the roof of the new De Roef building. This socially functional center will soon have many advantages of the panels: it collects excess rainwater during a heavy rain shower, it provides natural cooling in the summer, it offers protection against noise and it provides an oasis of greenery for the immediate surroundings.
Tim Schreurs – as a project manager at SURE project makers responsible for the new building – indicates that water storage was an important condition of the municipality of Harderwijk. “Our choice for the CE Green City panels is based on a combination of factors: it is a relatively easy product for water retention on the roof because the panels do not need to be secured. In addition, due to its own mass, it contributes to the acoustic challenge that we have with this building. And yes, it is also a sustainable product. We could really tick all the conditions.”
Combining major sustainability challenges for municipalities – the responsible recycling of synthetic turf pitches, circular and sustainable procurement, and at the same time working on green perception and climate adaptation – is often an enormous task. The combination of CEYES and Re-Match makes all this possible. Thanks to Re-Match’s transparent recycling process, municipalities can even have their own worn-out artificial grass pitches recycled via Re-Match in Tiel and used as CE Green City Panels back in their own municipality. Then the circle is real and verifiably complete.
