Recycling at the Centre of New Pitch Development
Alliance Leisure has begun works on the resurfacing of an 11-a-side, FIFA standard, 3G football pitch at Stirling Sporting Village. As part of the works, the old synthetic pitch and shock pad will be lifted and recycled at the UK’s first recycling plant for end-of-life synthetic turf pitches (EOLP). The new plant, based in Grangemouth and owned by the Sportex Group will help to move the disposal of artificial pitches towards a circular economy where materials are re-cycled back into the industry they came from rather than contributing to landfill.
Active Stirling manage Stirling Sporting Village. This regeneration project forms part of the charity’s 2021-24 business plan to improve people’s lives by getting the inactive active and the active more active more often. The pitch has been playing a key role in the community for the last 15 years, hosting many school, community and club activities but as confirmed by tests performed by Sport Lab, had reached the end of its viable lifespan. The resurfacing works will not only ensure the continuation of activities already underway, but they will also enable the extension of reach to new community groups.
This project is also environmentally responsible. Using Sportex’s existing recycling technology, sand and SRB rubber from the old pitch will be reclaimed and treated through a series of unique processes to be made available to existing industry standards for re-use within future sports facility projects. With the infill removed, the old synthetic turf will be shredded, cleaned, and processed through a bespoke plastic agglomeration process to facilitate the production of ‘TREKboards’; a 100% recycled plastic kickboard product that will be installed around the perimeter of the new facility.
The project is being led by Alliance Leisure and their specialist pitch Consultant Sports Labs through the UK Leisure Framework which is managed by Denbighshire Leisure. Works began in September and are anticipated to complete in 6-8 weeks.