About us
Our goal is 100% circular processing for artificial grass mats
The Netherlands has an enormous artificial grass mountain which has been caused by a lack of facilities able to provide this service cleanly and safely, let alone offer a circular solution. GBN-AGR is a Dutch company responsible for building the first circular processing facility for artificial grass: the solution to the country’s artificial grass problem. Within the space of one year, GBN-AGR in the Netherlands has built a processing facility that can fully process artificial grass into new, high-quality circular raw materials.
How GBN Artificial Grass Recycling was set up
Recycling artificial grass in a clean, safe and circular way? …. in 2018 this still seemed impossible in the Netherlands. Every year 200 artificial grass pitches reach the end of their lifespan. An enormous artificial grass mountain had been created that could not be processed in a responsible manner. This was very inconvenient for the market, the artificial grass suppliers and contractors and it had already been suggested in some local councils that artificial grass should no longer be used at all on Dutch sports pitches. Action had to be taken at market level and, on 4 April 2019, GBN Artificial Grass Recycling (GBN-AGR) was set up. Chain partners GBN, Antea Sport, EdelGrass, Ten Cate Grass Group, CSC Sport, Greenfields, Domo Sports Grass and Sports & Leisure Group entered into the collaborative partnership under the name GBN Artificial Grass Recycling (AGR). Setting up this partnership provided artificial grass suppliers with the guarantee that their end-of-life artificial grass mats would be disposed of in a transparent, circular and responsible manner.
Collection of artificial grass – 2020 season
We can accept your worn-out artificial grass mats at our location at Santoriniweg 20, Amsterdam. In doing so we will, of course, guarantee sustainable and responsible processing.
Would you like more information? Then please do not hesitate to contact us on kunstgras@gbn.nl
Building and opening the recycling plant
On 7 January 2020, GBN-AGR was granted a permit for recycling artificial grass at the new, final location at Santoriniweg 20, in the heart of the Westelijk Havengebied (western harbour area) in Amsterdam. This area has been designated by the Port of Amsterdam (PoA) as a circular cluster. In September 2019, GBN-AGR signed a rental agreement with PoA and this lay the foundation for a circular cooperation.
In October 2019, following a period during which the permits had been applied for and the new processing location had been designed, we started construction of the final location. The first phase consisted of preparation of the site for construction. After significant ground improvement, the site was equipped with foundations, a sewerage system, an electricity network and the land was levelled out. The facility is surrounded by a wall which is four metres high. On the site there are compartments for storing the different artificial grass pitches separately. The next stage was laying the foundations for the storage and processing halls and asphalting the whole site to make it liquidtight, an important condition for permit authorisation.
GBN AGR Amsterdam
The recycling process has been fully operational at our location at Santoriniweg 20, Amsterdam since June 2020. The construction of the processing location in Amsterdam means it is now possible to reprocess obsolete artificial grass mats in our own country (no need for interim storage or lengthy transport abroad) into three pure raw materials, all of which now have a new purpose. The recycled sand, recycled rubber and recycled turf agglomerate (RTA) meet the highest standards and are certified as such. These are high-quality raw materials with a high environmental value at a market price. The clean sand is suitable for use again as infill in artificial grass sports pitches and can also be used, for example, as drainage sand. The cleaned rubber granules mainly find their way into industry, for example for the production of industrial floors or as panels for green roofs. RTA is used in, for example, synthetic edge boards for hockey pitches, planks for picnic tables or high-performance base layers for sports pitches. Are you interested in any of these circular raw materials? Then please don't hesitate to contact us on kunstgras@gbn.nl
Our products:
Circular sand
A layer of sand infill is used for almost every type of artificial grass. The sand, which is of a specific, high quality, provides the artificial grass with stability. The GBN-AGR process involves separating, sieving and washing the sand, resulting in an end product that is clean, pure and circular.
The sand meets the highest environmental standard (category AW) in accordance with the Dutch Decree on Soil Quality.
The sand complies with NOC NSF (Dutch Sports Federation) standard M4a for its sports performance features, meaning that this circular sand can be used again as infill for new sports pitches.
The sand can also be used as a circular raw material in infrastructure or civil projects.
Circular SBR
SBR rubber granulate is often chosen as a high-performance infill in artificial grass pitches.
SBR rubber granulate is derived from recycled car tyres. Rubber from car tyres is high quality and, after undergoing GBN-AGR's recycling process, ready for the next stage of its life. The material finds its way into new artificial grass pitches or is used as a circular raw material in various new rubber products, such as rubber tiles, antislip mats, reclaimed rubber compounds, water retention panels etc.
Circular TPE
Just like SBR granulate, TPE (a thermoplastic elastomer material) is also a popular high-performance infill choice. The advantage of a thermoplastic is that it is easy to recycle. After going through GBN-AGR's recycling process, the TPE can be used as a circular raw material in new products. In some cases the TPE infill can also be reused as circular infill material for new artificial grass pitches.
RTA
RTA stands for Recycled Turf Agglomerate and is an agglomerate created from recycled artificial grass mats. In GBN-AGR's process the artificial grass mats (after being shaken, washed and shredded) are processed into an agglomerate. The RTA is a circular raw material for sustainable artificial products, such as edge boards, picnic kits or water bank protection. The RTA can also be used for EcoCept®, an innovative and sustainable base layer with enhanced play characteristics, developed for artificial grass pitch performance.
Our
Certificates
GBN Artificial Grass Recycling (AGR) has been awarded an initial, unique certificate by KIWA for its end-of-life artificial grass pitch recycling process. This certificate guarantees that end-of-life artificial grass pitches will be circularly processed by GBN-AGR. It also certifies the high-quality circular raw materials that are produced such as SBR rubber granulate, TPE rubber and infill sand.
GBN-AGR provides a full guarantee, a transparent process and sets the benchmark for circular processing and a consistent supply of high-quality circular raw materials. A circular economy….. it’s essential, it can be done and GBN-AGR is doing it!
Let's ban Earth Overshoot Day
To keep our earth sustainable and to make sure there are sufficient raw materials for current and future generations, we need to use less primary materials. That applies to all raw materials and certainly to those that are not renewable. To achieve this, we must ensure 100 percent circular use of all released material flows. It has to be done and it can. For the earth will outlive us all... Earth Overshoot Day is the day of the year when – counting from 1 January – humanity worldwide has used up the amount of raw materials that the earth can regenerate in one year. GBN's aim is to completely eradicate Earth Overshoot Day.
See whyView website
Sustainable collaboration
Alliance of collaborating artificial grass producers and contractors
While primary materials remain cheaper, market forces will not encourage circular production. Long-term collaboration within the chain is necessary to make the production of artificial grass circular. GBN-AGR is an initiative set up by and for the industry, arising from a collaboration between a number of parties who set up the Alliance of collaborating artificial grass suppliers and contractors in early 2019. The collaboration provides for the necessary investment for processing sufficient volumes of artificial grass. The scale of this initiative, which was missing from earlier attempts, is sufficiently guaranteed within this collaboration. Each party can supply end-of-life artificial grass material and thus contribute to circularity within the industry.
The collaboration was initiated by GBN (Strukton), Antea Sport/EdelGrass, Ten Cate Grass Group/CSC Sport/Greenfields, and Domo Sports Grass/Sports & Leisure Group. They are committed to a long-lasting collaboration.
Do you want to contact us?
Got a question and/or comment relating to GBN AGR? Then send an email to: kunstgras@gbn.nl
Head office:
GBN Artificial Grass Recycling B.V.
Westkanaaldijk 2, gebouw 52
3452 DA UTRECHT
Postbus 19172
3501 DD UTRECHT
Telefoonnummer : 030 296 64 85
Amsterdam location:
Santoriniweg 20
1045 AV AMSTERDAM
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