Sustainable sports flooring based on cardyon®

New sports fields made of artificial turf often contain an elastic underfloor consisting of recycled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) granules. But this elastic layer is usually formed using a fossil-based binder, a situation that our customer Polytan wanted to improve. They set themselves the task of creating a new more sustainable binder with improved quality, meeting all the requirements imposed by national and international standards/norms and fulfilling the requirements of international sports-federations (e.g. FIH, FIFA, WR). 

Polytan already offered a more sustainable solution for sports fields: artificial turf made of polyethylene derived from sugar cane, elastic underfloor consisting of recycled SBR granules – but the system was only available with a fossil-based binder. The challenge was to invent a binder that was more sustainable as well as effective and durable. 

The use of CO₂ as a raw material for plastics is made possible by an innovative technology that Covestro has developed together with its partners. CO₂ is used as a supplier of the important element carbon – instead of petroleum-based raw materials. Up to 20 percent of traditional fossil raw materials can thus be replaced by carbon dioxide. This new CO₂ -based polyol enabled Polytan to offer more sustainable products to its customers. The first successful installation was at the hockey club, CHTC Krefeld, in Germany, which serves as a venue for international matches and championships.