Australia's first Synthetic Turf Recycling Hub on track for April 2024 opening

The coming together of major synthetic turf providers Tuff Group and Sport Group to provide an industry-focused solution to synthetic turf waste in Australia will see RE4ORM, the nation’s first artificial surface recycling facility, open in 2024.

The partnership - which will provide a closed-loop solution for Australia’s synthetic turf industry - will offer a sustainability-focused recovery and recycling service for end-of-life synthetic turf.

Through the design and development of cutting-edge mechanical recycling machinery, RE4ORM will be able to break down synthetic turf into its core components - silica sand, rubber granule and polyethylene.

In doing so, RE4ORM will provide the capability for recovered materials to be re-used in new turf projects.

Located in Barnawartha, Victoria - on the Hume Highway near the NSW border, the one-of-a-kind facility will have capacity for up to 7,600 tonnes per year, preventing valuable and recoverable resources from needlessly ending up in landfill, while also reducing CO2 emissions released in landfill from synthetic turf waste.

The service is designed to serve as an end-of-life solution for the entire industry, capable of recovering all types of synthetic turf from long and short pile sports products, to landscape, with almost no waste generated.

The project has received financial backing from the Victorian Government’s Circular Economy Business Support Fund.

In a statement from the Fund, it advised “the project aims to deliver Australia’s first synthetic turf recycling facility capable of processing turf waste and recovering 98% of the raw materials for repurposing and redistribution.

“This 100% sustainable end-of-life processing plant will be based in regional Victoria and will support the Victorian economy by providing businesses with a low cost, ethical alternative to using virgin materials, and by influencing behaviour change to achieve a circular, climate resistant economy.

“The plant will be capable of recycling 4 to 5 tonnes of synthetic turf per hour, thus producing 4 to 5 tonnes of raw materials (i.e. sand, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), polyethylene (PE) fibre, and polypropylene (PP)) that can be recirculated in the economy through sale to local businesses and industries.”

RE4ORM’s facility is currently under construction, with operations expected to commence in April 2024.