Artificial Turf
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October-December 2020
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commissioned by Trøndelag county on how to establish a fully-fledged Norwegian value chain and circular solution for recycling artificial turf. In the wake of the scandal of Norwegian turf being illegally dumped, stored and resold the turf itself has changed the general public’s perception: from enrichening the Norwegian team-sports culture, to also pose an environmental threat to society. There are currently 1700 soccer fields throughout in Norway, which amounts to 16 million tonns of plastic/rubber that pose a threat, and only 6 teams with industrial intel were chosen to investigate potential solutions on Norwegian soil.
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Introduction
This competition is an indirect response to the 2019 scandal where it was uncovered that artificial turf from Norway was being illegally dumped or resold to other European countries. This unfortunate was only possible as Norwegian turf suppliers became dependent on an Estonian sub-contractor for disposing the artifical turf. The turf itself poses a considerable environmental threat for wildlife on land and ocean, as the pellets in it are made of tire rubber.
The brief explicitly ask for a practical solution for turf-reuse that is holistic, sustainable and collaborative across factions within the value chain recycling plastic and rubber. The underlying causes that has disabled Norway from achieving their own value chain:
value shift - the values are disproportionally distributed between the factions in the value chain, where the court owners sit with all the costs and moral responsebility.
lack of incentives - the public subsidiaries the court owners can apply are open only once every decade (meanwhile artificial turf expires after 7-9 years). The lack of maintenance funding has forced clubs and suppliers to resort to quick fixes abroad.
Impaired investigative abilities - the moment the turf crosses the border, it has allowed for illegal dumping, storage and resale of below-standard used turf. There are no resources or governing body to police legislation, regulations, guidelines.
lacking scaleability - there are currently no strategy from recycled plastic/rubber and market output. Additionally, the current political tide demands that the recycled products carries a message that is morally and culturally justifiable.
Proposal
This team poses two important questions: if the technology and knowledge to recycle artificial turf do exist, why has not Norway yet been able to adopt or implement a value chain of their own? The root of this problem is of international nature, in saying so can the Norwegian solution simultaneously apply other countries as well?
Instead of doing as the brief asks for, such as piecing together a Norwegian value chain (2.0) and directly developing a circular model (3.0), as the underlying causes dicates that the focus should be in the legislative and market understanding. We propose to strengthen the apparatus (1.5) supporting change of industry, rather than changing the industry itself. Secondly, we focus on the material output of the value chain, namely the volume & scaleability (2.5).
This bid delves into these aspects:
blockchain and certification. This solution automates and enables an international investigative ability.
deposit & Fee (KGA)
Plastic tax & burden distribution
Local marketing potential
Hands-on workshop
8 industry guidelines
Catalog handling 3 levels of scalability (product, method, standardisation)
Although the brief calls for an industrial innovation, delving further into the topic debunks such an idea as the knowledge and tech surrounding recycling turf is quite developed. What it actually needs, is an administrative innovation - to establish legislation, incentives and holistic business strategies across factions to actually sustain such a culture in Norway.
The Pilot
The project culminates in one exemplary product that embodies the core approaches of both 1.5 and 2.5: the modular rubber tile. The pilot weaves into it all the complexities from the proposal chapter: policymaking, incentives, dissemination, traceability, marketing and product. It is a product that has geometrically, aesthetically and accoustic qualities that can be used on many settings. This particular example deals with the local football club Bodø Glimt, as it is a recognised brand that the locals has adopted, using its likeness such as color scheme, team mascot (bee and the hexagon), symbolic message. This proposal comes full circle with its poetic turn, by making amends for our sins through the source itself, football.
The product also explores potentials of how a Norwegian solution can pave the way for an International solution, with collaborations with a Norwegian-based tech company within blockchain.