A worldwide patented process

Once up and running at full capacity, the facility will be capable of processing some 800 tonnes/week of rolled up turf; equal to almost four full-sized football pitches.

The worldwide patented process takes complete, rolled-up turf through a process of shredding, cutting, drying and sieving, which delivers four products into big bags: sand, granulated/crumbed rubber infill, plastic fibres, and backing fractions.

Third party test institutions have verified the purity of the end products delivered by the facility. The sand has been tested to have 99.6% purity and the rubber infill 99.95%.

The artificial turf industry may not require such high purity levels, however, Re-Match has purposefully targeted a purity level that makes the products attractive to alternative industries, either as a replacement or as a supplement for virgin products.

Re-Match will conduct regular tests on its end products, internally and externally, thereby assuring quality consistency.

100% of the rolled up pitch will be processed. After processing the materials are mostly used for maintenance of existing turf pitches. 90% represents the infill material, sand and rubber granulate.

The actual turf fibres alongside the backing material, some 9% of the total volume, will be prepared for recycling, whereas the remaining <1% will end up as filtered dust and general waste, separated during the process. End of Life certificates are issued to the owners of the pitch once the last roll of turf in the pitch has been processed. This certificate confirms that what was shipped has actually been received and processed. To further verify its process, Re-Match A/S is pursuing an ETV Certification, Environmental Technology Verification, and current expectation is that a certificate will be issued over the summer of 2016.

Plans for additional Facilities

Re-Match offers recycling of complete rolled up turf at prices that are some 10-20% below the cost of landfilling. Landfilling is a costly option, not only from a cost point of view but also from an environmental perspective.

One option chosen by some operators within the industry is to incinerate the waste turf.  This is not an environmentally friendly solution. Actually, when choosing the Re-Match option, the owner of one standard size pitch (220 tonnes and 7,200m2) will save the environment close to 400 tonnes of CO2, as compared to incineration.

Considering that the industry expects some 30 million m2 – or 4,160 full size pitches – will need to be disposed of in 2017, within EMEA alone, the CO2 savings are substantial, if not incredible. This volume will continue to grow, exponentially, so the challenge will not reduce over years to come.

On the contrary, the 30 million m2 of waste represents a huge challenge for the industry, as there are very few environmentally sustainable solutions available to owners of old worn out turf. Although the Re-Match process is a viable and a very welcome option, the facility in Herning can only process some 160-170 pitches annually. Furthermore, the cost of transport can be expensive.

However, the good news is that the facility constructed by Re-Match can be replicated anywhere in the world and fairly fast; a facility can be up and running in less than 12 months after an order has been placed.

There are plans to establish additional facilities in Europe as well as overseas. Facilities will be established as subsidiaries of Re-Match A/S Denmark, however, in some countries, the plan is for local partners operating under the Re-Match licence. Example given, Russia and South America.

The ambition of Re-Match is to continue building the value of its end products through up-cycling, particularly as it pertains to the turf fibres. This will allow Re-Match to be even more competitive on its gate fees.

The official opening of the Re-Match facility in Herning, Denmark, is on Tuesday 21 June. During this event Re-Match will announce the location of its next two facilities.