Re-Match makes way for Olympic arena
In 2024 when Paris will be host to the Olympic Games for the third time, one of the flagship infrastructures of the is the Arena Porte de la Chapelle which will seat 8,000 people. The City of Paris has chosen a consortium to design, build and operate this arena. First step in the building process is the complete dismantling, removal and recycling the old synthetic turf pitch on the site. This was all handled by one of the consortium partners; Re-Match France.
The 6.000 sqm arena to be built in Paris’ 18th arrondissement will host the Olympic badminton events at the next Summer Olympics as well as the Paralympic taekwondo and badminton competitions. Leading the construction is Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France in association with Bouygues Energies & Services and since the City of Paris is well-known for its focus on sustainability, they needed to ensure that they were taking the right environmental measures in the project. So, when the existing turf pitch needed to be removed – Re-Match went to work.
The existing pitch was rolled into 2 meter long rolls using purpose-built machines. Each weighing approx. 1 tonne the rolls were packed in sleeves made out of recycled plastic to avoid any loss of infill at the site as well as during transport and storage. Then Parisian pitch was transported to a storage site in Alsace close to where Re-Match France future plant will be built in.
A sustainable process
In the Re-Match process the turf is first shredded, then further reduced, dried, cleaned – without the use of water. Finally, the products are separated into the original components: sand, rubber, backing and plastic fibre – ready for us in new production cycles such as new sports surfaces, furniture, construction, industrial applications, etc.
Juliette Foissaud Main Works Engineer for the Arena Porte de la Chapelle project, explains:
“It was very important for Bouygues, but also for our sponsor, the City of Paris, to ensure that the pitch was recycled. In addition to recycling more than 95% of the total pitch, Re-Match ensures complete traceability, which will enable us to know the final destination of the recycled products from the site of the future Arena.”
Eric Levresse, CEO of Re-Match France comments: “We are very proud to have been chosen by Bouygues Bâtiment Ile de France to carry out the removal and future recycling of this pitch, which is also our first project in France. The site was completed in record time, a day and a half, and the site was returned in a condition allowing construction work to begin immediately. The pitch is now stored at our site in Alsace and will be recycled when our new factory is ready”.
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Re-Match France is based on the technology of Re-Match, created in 2013 in Denmark. It is the only company capable of recycling more than 95% of the synthetic turf using a process that it has developed and registered in 56 countries around the world.
