UEFA Drives Sustainable Solutions for Synthetic Turf Pitches

In October 2023, the European Union adopted a restriction on the sale of microplastics and products containing them from being intentionally added for sale on the market. The restriction applies to synthetic polymer microparticles smaller than 5mm.

Crumb rubber (SBR) infill made from end-of-life tyres that has been widely used in synthetic turf pitches across the world is included in this definition and will therefore no longer be available on the market once the restriction comes into effect in 2031.

Crumb rubber has proven to be a successful solution in producing safe, long-lasting synthetic turf pitches in climate zones across the world, from the cold, wet northern European countries to the warmer southern European regions.

The manufacturers of synthetic turf pitches are working on producing products to fill the void that will be left when crumb rubber is no longer available, and multiple innovative solutions are now available on the market utilising materials such as tree bark, corn husks and cork.

Many of UEFA’s national associations, primarily the ones where synthetic turf plays a crucial part in both the amateur and professional gam,e are in the process of assessing the new products to find the best fit for their climatic conditions and the type and volume of use at their various facilities.

Countries including Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden rely on synthetic turf in the elite stadiums used in their domestic championships, these pitches also forming a crucial part in their grassroots games and player development strategies.

The recent success of the Iceland national team in qualifying and competing successfully for major tournaments is often attributed in no small part to the increase in available playing and coaching hours afforded by synthetic turf.

Several test beds have been built across Europe to assess the performance and longevity of these new products and ascertain their suitability. In order to support the associations in this process and to share best practices across the European football family, UEFA will create a working group of national associations and coordinate this process in order to identify the key learnings and conclusions and also to represent the needs of European football to industry bodies such as the FIFA TAG and to the producers of synthetic turf.

UEFA will leverage a number of internal resources, such as the innovation hub which specialises in collaborating with the private and public sector in order to find solutions to challenges facing European football, as well as mandating the leading independent consultants in this field in order to ensure that the needs of the key stakeholders in European football are at the forefront of the industry's decision-making.