Following the decision to shutdown our sites across the country on 24th March, we’ve been closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation within our industry and beyond. With confirmation from the Secretary of State for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy that construction sites should continue to operate during the Coronavirus pandemic, we will begin a phased return to construction work on a limited number of our sites commencing Monday 20th April.
This follows a detailed review of the Construction Leadership Council’s latest ‘Site Operating Procedures During Coronavirus’ guidelines which were published on Wednesday 15th April.
Our Health & Safety Manager has worked closely with our Contract Managers and Clients to identify suitable projects for this phased approach, ensuring that appropriate procedures are in place to best protect all individuals involved.
We have and will continue to be informed by the latest governmental advice and our decision-making continues to be guided by our mission to protect staff, clients and NHS frontline workers.
As such, we will review this decision on a daily basis, closely monitoring progress and procedures on these sites, as well as ensuring any changes to industry or government guidance are implemented.
We hope that this steady return to work will prove to be a positive step forwards during a difficult time, we know many of our staff are looking forward to returning, safely, back to work.
The majority of our office-based staff will continue to work from home in line with guidelines published by the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy and Public Health England.
Following the latest national lockdown announcement on Monday 4th January 2021, and safe operation across our sites since our phased return in April 2020, The Slatter Group can confirm that all active sites will remain open and continue to operate in line with the latest Construction Leadership Council’s Guidance, Site Operating Procedures During Coronavirus (Version 6).
Our offices remain open for staff who require access to carry out their duties, with the majority of staff working from home, in line with guidelines published by the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy and Public Health England.
The Slatter Group places the wellbeing of staff, suppliers, and clients above all other considerations. To ensure the safety of staff, our in-house Health and Safety Manager has conducted and co-ordinated detailed research and planning for each site. We will continue to monitor the situation and updated guidance closely, with our position reviewed on a daily basis.
Please contact us with any questions.
For more information call 01635 34521 or email enquiries@slattersportsconstruction.com
Choosing to undertake a sports construction project is no easy feat. As with any capital project, you’ll have deadlines, goals and a requirement that your project will last. To ensure a smooth process from planning to delivery, making the right choice of contractor is crucial.
Once the tender process is complete and the contracts are signed, you’ll be working with your contractor for a number of months, trusting that they’ll deliver what they promised, working collaboratively on-site, solving problems and delivering the standard you expect.
The Sport and Estates teams at the University of Warwick understand the challenges of sports construction. They have worked with multiple contractors to transform the university’s facilities through a £50m investment in sport. In 2017, as part of the transformation project and after a competitive tender process, the Warwick team selected S&C Slatter to construct their first water based hockey pitch.
Three years on we met with the members of the Warwick team responsible for planning and managing the construction process to find out exactly what it was like to work with S&C Slatter and see how the project has impacted life at Warwick.
Lisa Dodd-Mayne (Director of Sport and Active Communities, University of Warwick) and Stephen Jepson (Director, Hadron Consulting) summarise the business case for a new water-based hockey pitch as an integral part of Warwick’s £50m investment in sport.
Lisa, Stephen, Alasdair MacIntosh (Programme Manager – Arts, Social Sciences & Sport, University of Warwick) and Charlotte Lloyd (Sports Officer, University of Warwick) discuss the objectives for the new water based pitch. With an aim to become the most active campus in the UK, top quality facilities were high on the agenda for the University, as well as improving the standard of hockey. The University also wanted to generate revenue from the pitch, and partnerships with England Hockey, while improving outreach in the community.
We asked our interviewees whether their goals and objectives had been achieved. They told us how the new water-based hockey pitch at Warwick University has:
Stephen, Lisa and Alasdair discuss their selection of S&C Slatter following a competitive tender process, why the team stood out, and what S&C Slatter were actually like to work with through the construction and delivery process.
Get in touch with our team on 01635 34521 or email info@sandcslatter.com
With Sports Facilities 2020 just a couple of weeks away, we thought we’d round up the top reasons you’ll want to attend this innovative new workshop for schools and clubs at Twickenham Stadium on March 12th.
With 10 expert sessions, you’ll get an understanding of the entire sports construction process, from surface choice and planning through to maintenance and revenue generation.
After the morning’s sessions, attendees can select a breakout session of their choice over a working lunch, as well as 1-2-1 sessions with any of the speakers. So whether you’re just thinking about a new project, or are looking to understand how to maximise your completed facility’s lifespan and ROI, you can ensure you get the answers you need from the event.
With protecting the environment high on the agenda for many, leading Environmental charity Fidra will be on hand with the latest guidance on delivering environmentally friendly sports projects. Ensuring your facility reaches its full potential is also important, so Intelligent Play will be on hand to show how advances in technology can reduce labour hours, increase pitch performance and longevity to maximise ROI.
Theory is important, but putting it into practice can often unearth unexpected obstacles. Every session will focus on real-world examples, such as Nick Johnston’s, who will delve into just what it took to bring the first artificial pitch to the RFU Championship for Coventry Rugby.
What’s a 3G, 4G or 5/6/7G pitch? Do we need a sand-dressed or water-based pitch for FIH certification? Is artificial turf safe for players?
These are just some of the questions that you, your colleagues, chairpeople, trustees or even parents might be asking when you start planning for a new sports facility. This is your opportunity to put the jargon to one side and understand exactly what surface you need for your school or club’s aspirations.
Sound good? Register your interest below or get in touch with any questions on 01635 34521 or email info@sandcslatter.com
With the SAPCA Annual Dinner just over a week away, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been named as finalists for the SAPCA Awards 2020!
Our project to construct a temporary baseball field at The London Stadium in 2019, bringing the first Major League Baseball (MLB) games to Europe, has been recognised alongside other notable projects in our industry, with the winner set to be announced on 24th.
Over one weekend at the end of June 2019, 60,000 baseball fans descended upon the London Stadium to watch the New York Yankees beat Boston Red Sox 12-8 in the first ever Major League Baseball (MLB) match to be played in Europe.
This is the story of the unsung heroes who made this historic event possible…
Whilst baseball is undoubtedly one of the most popular sports in the United States, no MLB games had ever been held in Europe before, but with successful events in Australia, Japan, Mexico and Puerto Rico under their belt, the MLB knew it was time to make the trip across the Atlantic.
Where better to host an iconic event than at an iconic venue? The London Stadium first captured the nation’s hearts in London’s 2012 Olympics and was identified as the perfect venue to both bring in and accommodate large crowds for MLB’s inaugural European event on 29th June 2020.
With 27 of the 30 MLB teams playing on natural turf, and The London Stadium home to premiership football team West Ham United, it would be easy to assume that the series would be played on grass.
However, at the conclusion of the football season in May, the London Stadium pitch is covered over for a series of music concerts before the grass is regrown in July.
On reviewing options for the playing surface Murray Cook, MLB’s senior field coordinator and consultant, concluded:
“We looked really hard at doing a natural grass system.
Sod is extremely expensive, so we decided to look at going with synthetic turf built on top of the concert venue. It’s sustainable and we can roll it up after the second game and put it away for next year’s series.”
With the stadium committed to a summer programme of sporting and musical events time was limited to install the pitch and then to remove it in time for the Diamond League athletics event in July.
With only 21 days for construction and just 5 days for and removal MLB sought a partner who could meet challenging, fixed, deadlines and deliver a playing surface worthy of two of the world’s best sports teams.
Following an exhaustive selection process MLB entrusted the project to Hewitt Sportsturf and S&C Slatter. Long term S&C Slatter partners FieldTurf were contracted to produce the 15,000 square metres of FieldTurf Vertex carpet.
Before works commenced S&C Slatter began an intense programme of planning and communication. We liaised with contractors from media organisations, lighting suppliers, seating suppliers, advertising contractors and the MLB team to carefully plan logistics and site access.
Our in-house Health and Safety Officer was involved throughout this process and prepared a detailed Health and Safety schedule for the project.
On Saturday 1st June, ‘Muse’ rocked East London with a terrific concert and 20 minutes after their crew had loaded and shipped their last crate, we set to work…
Hewitt prepared an initial aggregate layer on top of the ArmourDeck surface. The S&C Slatter team then laser paved and compacted a final 30mm layer of additional aggregate to create a flat, level, playing surface ready to receive to receive the FieldTurf surface.
Satisfied the surface was perfectly level we installed the synthetic turf and laid the clay base path – the diamond that connects the bases. Working closely with the MLB grounds team to we acheived an exact level match between the clay, infield, and synthetic surface.
Next we constructed two bullpens, dedicated areas for relief pitchers to warm up prior to entering the game, along with two batting practice cages for batters.
With construction completed on time and without issue we supplied a round-the-clock maintenance team to provide instant response should any issues arise (they didn’t).
The revolutionary artificial turf offered FieldTurf’s patented three-layer infill system with two distinct types of fibres, resulting in a natural look, top quality performance system for world-class baseball. To complete the pitch, 345 tonnes of Pennsylvania dirt was used to construct the quintessential baseball Diamond.
Only the best for the MLB’s finest teams, as well as Royal visitors the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who met with both teams and enjoyed the first match of the series.
Twenty minutes after the last ball we began the deconstruction process removing the batting cages and bullpens before extracting the pitch itself. We had the entire pitch removed, and the stadium returned to its previous state, in just two days. The FieldTurf surface is in storage awaiting this year’s London Series when the St Louis Cardinals will play the Chicago Cubs.
A win for the Yankees, the MLB and London Tourism
The New York Yankees went on to win both games of the series, but they weren’t the only winners. With 59,659 baseball fans spectating, it was the highest attendance at any MLB game in over 15 years.
It was a big success for London too. With Mayor Sadiq Khan “determined to bring baseball to our city”, the series well and truly delivered, with over one third of attendees visiting from overseas, generating millions for London’s retail and tourism industries. The venue itself also benefited, selling over 80,000 pints of beer, 10,000 hotdogs and 2,600 bags of monkey nuts.
The MLB will return 13th-14th June 2020 with the promise of another famous rivalry, when the Chicago Cubs will face off against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Thanks to the use of cutting-edge artificial turf, that S&C Slatter removed and stored safely in London, the majority of the field, fixtures and fittings from 2019 will be reused for the 2020 event, contributing to sustainability across the series.
Watch this diamond shaped space!
Considering a sports construction project and want to make sure you knock it out of the park? Get in touch with our team on 01635 34521 or email info@sandcslatter.com
We believe this to be the most responsible course of action at this time and will reschedule Sports Facilities 2020 in due course, when the COVID-19 Coronavirus situation becomes clearer.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
S&C Slatter are proud to announce this innovative new workshop offering fresh insight, and practical advice, from a range of sports industry experts. Attendees will be inspired, and empowered, to deliver outstanding new sports facilities for their schools and clubs.
Planning a new sporting facility, whether a single pitch refurbishment or multi-sport hub, is no easy feat. With challenges ranging from funding and technical specifications to player performance and environmental impact, it’s hard to to understand exactly how to develop your new facility.
To help schools and sports clubs navigate these processes, S&C Slatter are proud to be hosting the complimentary Sports Facilities 2020 Workshop at the iconic Twickenham Stadium on March 12th, 2020.
There is no cost to attend but with just 80 places available early registration is advised.
The workshop program is designed to benefit those responsible for the planning and delivery of infrastructure upgrades, refurbishment, and new facilities at schools and clubs.
Schools: Business Managers | Estates Managers | Bursars | Heads of Sport
Sports Clubs: Chairperson | Committee members with responsibility for new facilities or upgrading/replacing existing facilities
The free workshop will cover everything you need to know about designing and delivering new sporting facilities in just one day, while incorporating the very latest developments in sports surfaces, environmental mitigation, and cutting-edge technologies to improve coaching and surface performance.
Delivered by subject matter experts with a focus on recent, real-world examples, delegates will gain insight into:
Over a complimentary working lunch, delegates will have a choice of breakout sessions to attend with the morning’s speakers, with an ‘Any Question Answered’ approach.
This will be followed by (optional) networking and individual one on one sessions, to ensure each delegate has the opportunity to tailor the afternoon to their needs.
8.30am Registration, coffee and pastries
Register and meet other attendees before the workshop begins
9.15am Welcome and introduction
9.20am Planning a new facility
James Gregory of LK2 Sport & Leisure will focus on how to understand exactly what your school / club wants – and what it really needs.
Understanding the difference (if any) and knowing what is required will ensure that you have a clear specification to work with, ensuring more accurate and relevant costing while reducing the time spent exploring irrelevant options.
9.40am Case study – Financing a project
Discover the Finance Lease and Operational Lease options available to cover the cost of resurfacing, or building new, artificial sports pitches. Learn how these options have enabled schools to provide superb new pitches for their pupils.
9.55am Project development
S&C Slatter’s pre-construction project manager Nick Seymour will walk you through the pre-construction planning process, highlighting potential pitfalls and sharing advice on mitigating risk to ensure your projects run smoothly.
10.20am Artificial turf myths debunked
Tarkett Sports and Jason Douglass of The Slatter Group will get down to basics addressing common concerns relating to artificial sports surfaces. Focusing on player safety and pitch performance, our experts will cover how to ensure your pitch meets the detailed specifications set by international sporting bodies like the RFU, FIFA, FIH and more.
10.40am Hybrid and natural turf pitches
With Natural Turf pitches still a mainstay across various sports, White Horse Contractors’ technical director Dr James Welsh will highlight the key considerations when building or renovating a natural turf pitch. James will then outline the benefits of hybrid turf pitches and demonstrate some user case scenarios.
11.00 – 11.20am Coffee break
11.20am Case study – Coventry Rugby Club (TBC)
Nick Johnston of Coventry Rugby club will discuss his experience of building the first 3G artificial turf pitch in England Rugby’s Championship. If you’re looking to embark on an ambitious project then this is the session for you. Hear first hand from Nick on what to expect – and benefit from his project hindsight!
11.40am Generating revenue from your new facility
Schools Plus’ Client Director, Kevin Coyle, will discuss the letting opportunities for your sporting facilities. By providing access to the local community you can generate a stable revenue stream to offset the investment costs of your new facility.
12.10pm Utilising new technology to increase Return on Investment
Alex Talton of Intelligent Play will explain how schools, clubs and teams are using digital technology, machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve pitch maintenance, maximise efficiency and increase the lifespan of their facilities.
12.40 Employing video analysis to support player performance
Automated video production is bringing affordable coaching and analysis tools to schools and clubs. Charlie Prichard of Pixallot will demonstrate how these tools empower coaches and players to identify areas for improvement and maximise your team’s success.
13.00 Environmental considerations
Environmental charity Fidra have a mission to reduce plastic pollution from artificial sports pitches. Following detailed research, they recognise the importance of artificial sports surfaces to community health and well-being.
Dr Maddy Berg will discuss the guidelines they have developed to reduce the impact of artificial sports pitches on the environment and enable you to create your own micro-plastics action plan to minimise the impact of your project on the environment.
13.30 Working lunch
Over a complimentary buffet lunch delegates can join ‘AQA’ Breakout sessions with our experts who will answer any questions you may have.
N.B. Delegates must choose breakout sessions in advance.
2.30pm Closing comments
2.40pm Networking and 1-2-1 meetings (optional)
Before the event, and throughout the day, delegates will be able to book 1-2-1 meetings with any of the presenters. If you have specific questions regarding live or planned projects, this is your time to get answers!
3.30pm Close
It’s January, the dawn of a new year, that time when – following the indulgence of Christmas and New Year – many resolutions are made. One of the most common? Getting more active.
It’s also nearly the end of January, which means we’re coming up to this year’s Quitter’s Day.
Each year, popular sports app Strava use the past 12 months of data from their users to calculate the day people are most likely to abandon their new physical fitness goals for the new year.
This year’s Quitter’s Day falls this weekend – on Sunday, January 26th 2020.
It’s no secret that physical activity is extremely important for not only our physical health, but our mental wellbeing. As Harvard Health Publishing puts it, exercise “has a unique capacity to exhilarate and relax, to provide stimulation and calm, to counter depression and dissipate stress”.
Good physical and mental health doesn’t just benefit the individual. As a student or employee, it will impact motivation, productivity and reduce the chance of absence due to illness – all of which benefit schools, universities and workplaces.
Despite all these benefits, it’s a lot harder for adults to be active than it is for children. Cambridge University released the results of two new pieces of research this week in their article ‘Becoming less active and gaining weight: downsides of becoming an adult’. The research shows that both leaving school and getting a job lead to a drop in the amount of physical activity that adults undertake.
There are key elements to encouraging any type of good physical habit to form, including encouraging team activity and providing good access to sporting facilities.
Although the Cambridge research shows that there’s a notable drop in physical activity after leaving school, it’s not to say that schools are directly responsible for the higher activity levels in younger people.
In fact, recent Sport England research shows that activity in schools over the past two years actually stagnated, despite a 3.6% rise in activity levels for young people overall.
There was a 4.6% increase in young people taking part in activity outside school instead. This may be down to increased participation in local sports teams or in sports that schools don’t offer.
To help contribute to wider participation in sports, schools can increase the variety of sports they offer through expanded facilities/equipment and encourage participation in team sports.
Strava noted that users who ‘exercise in a group record 10% more activities’, so by introducing students to team sports in school, schools can encourage pupils to develop a love for sports that they’ll continue and maintain beyond school.
In 2019, we constructed new sporting facilities at Holy Cross Preparatory school, encompassing an under-utilised area, approximately 1/3rd of the school’s footprint, bringing it into everyday use. The facilities include one flood-lit sand-dressed artificial grass turf hockey pitch, one artificial grass turf pitch, a sports pavilion and cross-country run around the boundary of the facility.
With a sport for all with excellence policy, the school’s bursar noted that “all girls in years 3 to 6 have the opportunity to represent their school in a sports team”. Through their official partnership with two local state schools, the facilities have also been able to allow the school to widen access to their resources, benefitting not only their own pupils, but those in the wider community as well.
There are plenty of things that can be done to combat the drop in activity levels in adults – and allow those New Years resolutions to really stick. If we all do enough to encourage physical wellbeing, perhaps one day Quitter’s Day will be a thing of the past!
The leisure industry also plays an important role in getting both adults and children more active, in providing access to facilities across the nation.
With UKActive’s Research Institute showing a 5% decline in visits to leisure centres from FY17 to FY19, it’s important for leisure centres to provide the sporting facilities that both members and non-members seek.
For example, outside of the ‘core three’ sporting activities that members attend leisure centres for, Football was the clear leader in the most popular sporting activity in 2019, growing year on year since 2017. It is also a huge draw for non-members, providing a strong way of drawing in PAYG members who may not have the financial ability to be full time members – improving access to sport regardless of financial status.
Our article on UKActive’s annual report delves into this in more detail.
If you think space might be an issue for an artificial pitch, think again. Woking Leisure Centre showed us this in their innovative use of space. Where most people would see a dull multi-storey, they saw an opportunity. The roof of their customer car park is home to 4x artificial grass turf football pitches, a 5-a-side complex we were thrilled to refurbish in late 2019.
With Cambridge University’s research pointing to ‘getting a job’ as one of the two key reasons behind a lack of physical activity in adults, does the buck stop with the workplace?
If you want to combat activity and productivity levels, give workers the opportunity to get active in the workplace itself. Whether it be a large-scale development or simply a fitness trail around the office boundary, there is plenty that can be done to contribute towards a more active workforce.
Widening the opportunity for team sports, as well as individual fitness, is a great way to not only help staff members get more physically fit, but can help colleagues learn to communicate more and work better together as a team.
Times are changing, and with the construction of many new business parks, health and wellbeing is becoming a huge consideration for businesses choosing a new home for their office spaces.
When it came to expanding their car manufacturing plant, the BMW MINI Plant knew that the football pitches on Horspath road in Oxford would have to be removed.
Knowing the importance of sports within the community, BMW funded a £5m new sports park, set across 39 acres and including 16 football pitches, two cricket pitches and softball facilities.
We were thrilled to work on this project, delivering first class sporting facilities to local clubs and businesses within the community.
There are plenty of touch-points for both adults and children in their lifetime, where sport can be actively promoted to encourage healthier and more active lifestyles – truly allowing those new year’s resolutions to stick. Here’s to a future where Quitter’s Day becomes a thing of the past!
Get in touch with your sports construction experts.
Our in-house dedicated design and planning team would be happy to discuss your site’s potential, and the sports facilities possible within the space available.
Get in contact on 01635 345 21 or email info@sandcslatter.com
It’s a new year, and whilst there’s plenty of excitement about new projects starting, it’s also a great time to celebrate company milestones and ongoing partnerships.
2020 marks our 5th year working in partnership with Freedom Leisure, taking ownership of the group’s artificial turf pitch maintenance requirements.
When it comes to achieving the best performance and return on investment (ROI) for any artificial sports pitch, it’s not only about ensuring that the initial construction is carried out to the highest standard. Experience and regular professional maintenance is just as important to the quality and longevity of a pitch.
Freedom Leisure have always been aware of these requirements, seeking to ensure that their facilities are always playing to the high standard customers expect, and working with S&C Slatter since 2015 to achieve this.
To secure the initial account, our specialist maintenance division prepared a ‘packaged’ business proposal which delivered a range of maintenance-focussed solutions to help ensure Freedom Leisure maximise the financial return from their original capital investments.
Sharon Morfitt, the group’s Procurement Manager commented that S&C Slatter:
“Worked tirelessly to gain not only our business but our trust in their ability to manage this area of our business. Through their hard work and determination they have managed to stem our reactive maintenance and provide a more comprehensive planned service at a very competitive rate.
Most impressive was the time and effort that clearly went into the planning stages and the level of detail they were able to provide to assist us in understanding how we were managing this area.
Now that the contract has begun, the sites have had nothing but praise for the service on site; clearly this is a contractor who places a lot of store on delivering a service to a high standard as promised from the outset; it is refreshing to find a contractor who values our business as much as we do and for this reason I would not hesitate to recommend SC Slatter moving forward.”
To understand in detail Freedom Leisure’s site requirements, S&C Slatter’s maintenance division, S&C Slatter Sports Maintain, visited each artificial turf facility and conducted a full maintenance assessment, incorporating the 3G or Sand-filled artificial turf surface, fencing and general infrastructure. From this the company was able to make specific and planned recommendations aimed at sustaining the active life of each pitch over an extended period and underpinned by a cost proposal which reflected the savings accrued by combining a number of sites with a single contract.
Like all great working relationships, our collaboration has grown over the years, incorporating 9 new sites with additional facilities for our maintenance division to nurture.
Overall, we now provide roughly 180 scheduled maintenance visits throughout the year across 20 Freedom Leisure sites in total.
Freedom Leisure is a not-for-profit leisure trust which manages leisure and cultural facilities on behalf of partners across the UK.
With a focus on increasing participation, improving services and delivering quality experiences for customers, as well as reducing negative environmental impact, the trust not only provides high quality facilities for users across the UK, but does so with the wider community and environment in mind, values that strongly align with our own and many of our clients.
We look forward to continuing this partnership in 2020 and beyond, working with Freedom Leisure to support their vision of ‘Improving lives through leisure’ by maintaining their artificial sporting facilities to the high standard expected of the trust, their clients and their partners.
If you would like a site visit or consultation with our maintenance team, please get in contact on 01635 345 21 or email info@sandcslatter.com
Whether it be politicians, businesses or activists, it’s no secret that the environment has been high on the agenda for many in 2019.
In the world of sports construction and artificial turf, we’ve noticed a growing desire for environmental consideration, both from manufacturers and clients, and have been consistently working to promote and offer solutions to mitigate the impact of our work on the environment.
So what are the current environmental challenges and solutions in our industry? Here’s a roundup of the problems we’re facing and how we’re working with clients and partners to address them.
Although created using rubber from recycled car tires, polymer-based infill materials within some of our artificial turf pitch systems are recognised and classified as microplastics, due to the way in which they can break down over the time.
There are already a number of alternative organic infills that are coming to market in place of polymer based ones. Whether it be cork, coconut husk or olive stone granulate, these are being tested in place of rubber crumb to ensure they meet governing body standards. Some of these also come with their own environmental concerns e.g. the farming of organic material and fungus growth problems, so research is ongoing into what the best solutions are for the future. Our partners FieldTurf have already created ‘Purefill’ and ‘Pureselect’, organic infills made from cork and olive cores respectively.
With a 2017 report by FIFA showing that only 3% of performance infill usage on Football pitches was organic material, our hope is that manufacturers will make production and testing a priority for 2020 to allow us to champion the use of sustainable, high performing alternative infills to clients.
There has been some concern around the possible health risks of recycled rubber granules being used as infill in artificial turf pitches, with anecdotal fears around potential carcinogen exposure cited in a handful of notable articles in 2016.
In June 2016, the European Commission asked the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to evaluate the risk from recycled rubber to the general population, including children, professional players and workers installing or maintaining the pitches. ECHA undertook an evaluation of the possible health risks of recycled rubber granules used as infill in synthetic turf sports fields and found that “recycled rubber infill causes a very low level of concern”.
Of course, for any clients that are still concerned by this, we have the option to coat the SBR infill with a polyurethane plastic film, which prevents chemicals leaching out from rubber crumb. We recently constructed a FIFA and World Rugby standard artificial pitch at ACS Cobham School using this specialist infill coating.
This one ties in quite closely with problem #1, as it relates to the migration of infill materials away from the pitch, which is of course of concern when it comes to microplastics. Infill migration can occur through natural movement across the pitch, (where infill ‘spills’ off the side), through drainage and by being carried off the pitch on the boots and clothes of players. The issue with this is that it can then end up in the water supply, either through drainage or when players shower and wash their kit – or when someone washes it for them!
Our in-house design and planning department are actively implementing infill mitigation measures in line with Fidra guidelines, such as adding solid surfaces around the edge of pitches, introducing physical barriers, pitch drainage filters and brush off zones.
Fidra is a charity who shine a light on environmental issues, working with the public, industry and government to deliver pragmatic, evidence-based solutions for a healthy environment and sustainable societies. They have a project dedicated to artificial pitches, looking at the reduction of microplastics, infill migration and responsible pitch disposal.
Beyond the concerns around infill, another big question facing clients, contractors and manufacturers is: what happens to a pitch when it needs replacing?
Common end of life options for artificial turf are re-use, landfill, incineration and recycling. Landfill and incineration are the two concerning disposal methods, due to their impact on the environment, however incineration can now be used to generate energy itself, to offset some of that impact.
Rather than opt for landfill or incineration, our partners FieldTurf offer to remove clients’ old turf and repurpose this into new material, including their infill material ‘ProMax Hydroflex’ in a unique cradle to cradle concept. You can read more on this specialist infill from SAPCA’s article ‘FieldTurf creates eco-friendly infill for synthetic turf’. FieldTurf is 100% recyclable, and FieldTurf was the first company in the industry to remove entire artificial turf systems and recycle them.
Our mitigation methods, alternative infills, and partner recycling programmes are currently tackling the most pressing environmental challenges our industry and clients face. We will continue to monitor new developments and champion eco-friendly design, practice and removal in our work, in collaboration with our partners and in line with Fidra and governing body advice.
Beyond construction, we also strive to be environmentally friendly in other ways, such as our dedicated recycling points within our offices, running biofuel and integrating electric vehicles where possible across the business.
If you have any questions relating to our environmental practice or would like to discuss alternative infill methods, pitch recycling or similar, please get in contact on 01635 345 21 or email info@sandcslatter.com
