Industry “
Dr Tim Lodge of Agrostis Turf Consultancy Ltd enters the artificial versus natural turf debate. He is disturbed by the direct comparisons being made between the two surfaces and the pre- occupation with the experience of the player to the exclusion of all other possible users of the space. He suggests that most public open spaces are enjoyed in many more ways, and by many more people, than just those that actually take part in the specific and organised sports intended to be played upon them
H
The FIFA spokesperson at our meeting indicated that the objective with an artificial surface is to reproduce the experience of playing on the highest standard of natural turf
”
It is excellent and very necessary that we should be addressing these environmental issues, not least because, if we don’t, then the state will ... all involved with the installation of artificial outdoor sports surfaces must be ahead of the game on these matters
How green is the industry?
ow green is the industry? was the title of a debate held recently at the SAPCA Technical Meeting, a worthy and well supported event with many prominent people in
attendance. The industry referred to was the construction and maintenance of artificial playing surfaces, although a natural turf representative was available for comment from the platform. Most of the discussion concerned what form of yarn should go into carpet manufacture, what can be done with carpets that have come to the end of their serviceable lives to avoid them having to go into landfill, what are the alternatives to virgin sand and SBR as carpet fill materials, what are the alternatives to virgin stone in sub base systems? It is excellent and very necessary that we should be addressing these environmental issues, not least because, if we don’t, then the state will, as is happening in various ways within the UK and across Europe. All involved with the installation of artificial outdoor sports surfaces must be ahead of the game on these matters if debilitating legislation is not to be imposed from above. Coming from a background concerned
primarily with natural turf, however, the answer to the question ‘How green is the industry?’ and referring only to artificial surfaces would seem to me to be simply ‘not at all’. The approaches to greening that were discussed are in fact mitigation procedures intended to make a generally negative environmental impact less negative. The end result can only be negative in relation to these installations. To be clear, this would be the case with almost any entirely artificial structure; roads, car parks, supermarkets, etc., so it is unfair to identify sports surfaces as any kind of exception in this respect.
By contrast, natural turf, being a living
thing, is intrinsically a positive environmental feature. It is a carbon sink and not a source, the soil it grows on is usually a natural water attenuation system, depending upon the mowing regime it can accommodate a range of other plant and animal species, etc., etc. I could go on. Possible exceptions might include very
intensively maintained golf greens, though these represent a tiny proportion of the land occupied by golf courses which are, I would say and in the UK at least, generally very positive environmental features. Witness the number of golf courses that are also SSSIs, for example.
The main thrust of the artificial versus
natural turf debate concerns team sport pitches and chiefly football and rugby. The FA and FIFA have committed huge amounts of money to the development and installation of artificial grass pitches and it is such surfaces that are in most peoples minds when the comparison with natural turf is made.
The driving force behind the development of artificial surfaces is the opinion and experience of the players. The FIFA spokesperson at our meeting indicated that the objective with an artificial surface is to reproduce the experience of playing on the highest standard of natural turf. Research was presented which indicated that this had been very nearly achieved with the products that are now available. I have no doubt that this is the case and, in this respect, the industry has been very successful indeed. The artificial surfaces we at Agrostis have designed and had installed by good contractors and with good materials have certainly all been of superb quality and have been to the tremendous satisfaction of the
PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 I 37
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