Industry dismay at EC move to ban on rubber infill materials

Brussels – Industry groups have expressed dismay at a European Commission (EC) draft proposal to ban the sale of infill materials classified as ‘intentionally added microplastics’ in synthetic turf.

According to an EC document, the Commission will meet on 23 Sept to adopt a draft proposal to restrict the sale of the infill materials, which are smaller than 5mm in size.

The move would effectively prevent the use of granular infill materials from end-of-life tires and other rubber recyclate in new synthetic pitch surfacing – after a six-year market-transition period.

The proposed legislation does not require any retrospective actions to be undertaken to current sports fields employing rubber infill materials.

The EC decision is based on a controversial 2020 recommendation by the European Chemical Agency’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC), which called for a ban on all ‘microplastics’ infills due to possible release to the environment.

However, the European Tyre Recycling Association (ETRA) believes that the Brussels regulators have based their decision on ‘wrong data’ provided by the RAC.

“ECHA’s consultation estimated an average release of 500 kg per year from each of 32,000 full size pitches installed, making the total estimation of the annual release equal to 16,000 tonnes," said ETRA in a statement provided 5 Sept to ERJ.

“This data is wrong and overestimated and we fully contest it,” stated the tire recycling industry body.

And even if the data was correct, ETRA said, “it would make more sense to introduce mandatory risk-management measures to limit the dispersion [of infill materials] down to 50kg or less.”

The industry association added that an appropriate measure would have been to ‘verify the effectiveness of a ban’ and then apply it to sports fields that do not comply.

“ETRA challenges the decision to ban polymeric infill material and asks for it to be withdrawn,” concluded the ETRA, which also called for further economic support for tire recyclers amid rising energy costs.

In a position paper issued 1 Sept, the EMEA Synthetic Turf Council (ESTC) said the ban will be “a challenge to the majority of European markets” in which such infills are widely used.

The ban, added ESTC, ignores work “by many stakeholders, including international sports federations, to help develop the CEN Technical Report 175193 for infill control and mitigation.”

The regulators, it also noted, have removed the option for derogation via risk management methods (RMMs) on the basis that this would not help meet its emission reduction goals.

“Independent research has shown the efficacy of RMMs, but the Commission appears to be concerned about the practicability and enforceability of such methods,” ESTC stated.

While, the EC proposal will provide a six-year transition period before the new restriction becomes effective, ESTC believes that the period is shorter than the expected usable life of 10 years for current surfaces.

“Many existing fields may struggle to achieve their full-service life due to an inability to purchase the materials required for on-going maintenance,” said the council.

This, it added, could force communities, schools and sports clubs to either replace their surfaces prematurely or risk deteriorations in the quality and safety of their fields.

ESTC, therefore, called for the transition period to be extended to at least 10 years to enable those that have recently invested in new fields to obtain the full operational life they anticipated.

Over recent years, ETRA, ESTC and other industry bodies, such as the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers ‘ Association (ETRMA) and the UK’s Tyre Recovery Association have robustly defended synthetic turf products from a range of attacks, subsequently found to lack scientific basis.

The potential impact of the EU ban on the recycling sector is underlined by ETRMA figures showing that some 527,000 tonnes of end-of-life tires – 30% of market share – are processed to be used as infill materials in Europe.

With the introduction of a ban, this volume would need to be used in other applications or into energy recovery, which is in conflict with EU waste-management principles.

There are also wider concerns, particularly within the EU recycling sector, that a ban on the use of rubber infill would lead to a sharp rise in exports of scrap tires to developing countries.