Bioturf

Develop an artificial turf structure made of bio-polyethylene (PE), which does not differ chemically from crude oil-based PE regarding key characteristics.

Motivation

Synthetic turf systems are increasingly being used in the construction of new sports surfaces. Compared to natural turf, these offer an intensively usable, low-maintenance, weed-free and weather-independent surface that does not need to be watered or fertilised.

A synthetic turf system is a multi-layer structure made up of different components including microplastic infill material. The different raw materials and polymers in the pile layer, carrier layer and infill make material recycling difficult. The structure is usually based on non-sustainable fossil raw materials and carries a high risk of microplastic pollution of the environment.

It is very questionable whether the currently more favourable acquisition costs compared to more sustainable concepts can still be represented in the future against the background of resource scarcity and the general acceptance against the background of legal and societal changes.

Aim

The goal is to develop an artificial turf structure made of bio-polyethylene (PE), which does not differ chemically from crude oil-based PE regarding key characteristics. The mono-material structure enables high-quality material recycling with regard to a closed-loop economy. In addition, the novel artificial turf structure should manage without the addition of infill granulate and thus minimise the input of microplastics into the environment.

In the course of the project, two playable large-scale demonstrators will be manufactured and designed as living labs for test purposes. User acceptance will be checked and taken into account. After use, the samples will be exemplary recycled in order to verify the process chain in the sense of the circular economy.

BIOTURF VISUALIZED

Approach

The various layers of artificial turf are replaced by bio-PE. There the following steps are necessary:

Development of monofilaments for the pile wear layer from biobased PE
Production of film tapes from biobased PE
Production of carrier fabric structures from the film tapes
Development of novel tufting structures
Thermobonding/coating from 100% recycled PE

Bio-PE is the ideal raw material for this purpose, as it does not differ chemically from crude oil-based PE. The mono-material concept and the the elimination of infill granules, the recyclability of the material is drastically increased in contrast to the previous thermal recycling process. In the course of the project, two large-scale demonstrators that can be used for test purposes will be manufactured will be manufactured and designed as real laboratories and recycled after use, in order to run through the process chain in the sense of the circular economy.

Results

The aim of this development was an innovative, 100% recyclable artificial turf made from a group of mate- rials (polyolefins). The material used for the polyethylene pile yarns generated from rapeseed oil and agricultural waste thus, not competing with food production.

The backing, holding the pile yarn in place, is polypropylene-based (PP) and is stabilized on the reverse side by a recycled film made from recycled old artificial turf pitches (lamination). The highlight of the newly developed artificial turf is a new process for fiber bonding. This new innovative process, known as thermobonding, replaces the traditional back latex-coating which is very energy-intensive due to the specific drying process. The innovative thermobonding technology ensures that the final product is 100% recyclable at the end of its life.

A real-life BioTurf soccer demonstration pitch is already installed in Aachen at the University Sports Centre, where athletes are already playing and training regularly and provide feedback as to the quality and the playability of the pitch.

Documents

BioTurf final report

BioTurf info poster

BioTurf Insights Session

Project Partners

GET IN TOUCH

Dr. Claudia Post mailto:c.post@tfi-aachen.de

Dr. Franz Pursche franz.pursche@ita.rwth-aachen.de

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