ESTO and STC Joint Statement on the September 12 Zembla Story ‘The artificial grass mountain’

The European Synthetic Turf Organization (ESTO) and Synthetic Turf Council (STC) are very disappointed to hear about alleged illegal dumping of synthetic turf at the end of their life in the Netherlands. We believe that all synthetic turf pitches should be recycled, reused or disposed of in a responsible manner, and our members have developed and continue to improve on processes to do so. In fact, the result produced by our members is of such high quality that they can use or sell the final product as a replacement for virgin materials, and these materials are sought after by companies in the synthetic turf industry and elsewhere. Additionally, our members at the forefront of technological advances that will one day make it possible to create synthetic turf for both pitches and landscape applications made solely of sustainable materials. Further, the ESTO and STC have developed numerous technical guidance documents, which are available to download for free on the ESTO and STC websites, to educate owners of synthetic turf about the best ways to dispose of their turf in an environmentally responsible way. These documents are part of our commitment to the responsible removal and disposal of synthetic turf installations.

Feel free to contact STC President & CEO Dan Bond dan@syntheticturfcouncil.org or ESTO Chairman Stefan Diderich Stefan@theesto.com should you have any questions.