All lights on red for rubber granulate on Dutch sports pitches

The standards of the Soil Quality Decree are exceeded at no fewer than 9 out of 10 sports fields investigated. "This study puts all the lights on red for rubber granulate on sports fields", responds Recycling Netwerk, which is calling for a moratorium.

In the ten municipalities where the verges and ditches next to the sports fields were investigated, a environmental problem was found everywhere, and in most cases the environmental standards were exceeded for both the soil and the water.

The RIVM investigation was prompted by reports from the investigative programme Zembla.

"This study is the official confirmation that the use of shredded car tyre waste on sports fields causes unacceptable environmental risks", says chairman Robbert van Duin of Recycling Netwerk.

Moratorium

In the Netherlands, there are approximately 2,000 sports fields with rubber granulate. "Now that the violations of the standards have been proven, the government must immediately stop the shredding of tyre waste on sports fields: introduce a moratorium. In parallel, all sports fields must be investigated. Now that there are such obvious problems, the government can no longer close its eyes", says Van Duin.

Tip of the iceberg

The RIVM recommends taking measures to prevent the spread of rubber crumbs to the verge soil and to limit the emission of substances via the drainage water.

The RIVM study was still limited in scope: only around the artificial turf pitches, not underneath them, and for a limited number of substances. STOWA also indicates this.

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven commissioned the study to determine whether more in-depth research is needed. STOWA notes that the effects of emissions of metals, PAHs and benzothiazoles are visible in the aquatic sediment and therefore recommends acquiring more knowledge. "This research therefore only shows the tip of the iceberg", Robbert van Duin notes.

Disguised landfill

Due to the shredding of the tyres, the harmful substances enter the environment more easily. This is therefore a textbook example of incorrect recycling and in fact a disguised landfill, completely in contradiction with the policy aimed at a circular economy.

Recycling Netwerk wrote to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) in November 2016 requesting enforcement. In September 2017, the environmental organisation filed a report with the Public Prosecution Service of large-scale environmental offenses involving car tyre waste. In October, the Dutch investigative programme Zembla interviewed Recycling Netwerk chairman Robbert van Duin about this report, in the documentary Tot op de bodem (Down to the bottom). "Big mistakes have been made. The responsibilities must be investigated. How could the ministry have agreed to this? Businesses, municipalities and sports clubs now have a duty of care here. We think that this study is an important piece for the investigation by the Public Prosecutor", Recycling Netwerk concludes.

Highlights from the STOWA report:

“Across the various bioassays collectively, biological effects were determined at four of the ten sports facilities” (p. 8)

“at the oldest field (28 years old) where a complete mortality of water fleas occurred, which can be explained by the high zinc concentrations in the drainage water. These high emissions are linked to the presence of rubber granulate on or in the field”. (p. 27)

“These effects are caused by organic micro-pollutants and indicate that, in addition to metals, there are also elevated emissions of other substances, such as PAHs and benzothiazoles, from the rubber granulate, which is confirmed by chemical analyses. The consequences of these emissions are visible in the aquatic sediment, where accumulation of substances associated with rubber granulate appears to occur at six of the ten locations”. (Chapter 4.3 of the report Exploration of environmental impacts for the aquatic ecosystem).

Highlights from the RIVM report

The use of rubber granulate on artificial turf pitches can be harmful to the environment in the immediate vicinity of the pitches. Substances can leak from the rubber crumbs and end up in the soil around the pitches (the verge soil) and in the sludge in ditches. This is bad for the ecosystem because it affects biodiversity (p.3).

In the study, the quality of the environment around artificial turf pitches with rubber granulate from car tyres was compared with the environmental quality around real grass pitches. At various locations, the concentrations of zinc, cobalt and mineral oil at artificial turf pitches exceed the applicable standards for soil and aquatic sediment (Soil Quality Decree), whereas this is not the case for real grass pitches. The environment is particularly sensitive to high concentrations of zinc; zinc does not pose a health risk to humans. (Source: Public summary

Reports

The Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) conducted research on behalf of the Water Boards and published the result

The standards of the Soil Quality Decree are exceeded at no fewer than 9 out of 10 sports fields investigated. "This study puts all the lights on red for rubber granulate on sports fields", responds Recycling Netwerk, which is calling for a moratorium.

In the ten municipalities where the verges and ditches next to the sports fields were investigated, a environmental problem was found everywhere, and in most cases the environmental standards were exceeded for both the soil and the water.

The RIVM investigation was prompted by reports from the investigative programme Zembla.

"This study is the official confirmation that the use of shredded car tyre waste on sports fields causes unacceptable environmental risks", says chairman Robbert van Duin of Recycling Netwerk.

Moratorium

In the Netherlands, there are approximately 2,000 sports fields with rubber granulate. "Now that the violations of the standards have been proven, the government must immediately stop the shredding of tyre waste on sports fields: introduce a moratorium. In parallel, all sports fields must be investigated. Now that there are such obvious problems, the government can no longer close its eyes", says Van Duin.

Tip of the iceberg

The RIVM recommends taking measures to prevent the spread of rubber crumbs to the verge soil and to limit the emission of substances via the drainage water.

The RIVM study was still limited in scope: only around the artificial turf pitches, not underneath them, and for a limited number of substances. STOWA also indicates this.

State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven commissioned the study to determine whether more in-depth research is needed. STOWA notes that the effects of emissions of metals, PAHs and benzothiazoles are visible in the aquatic sediment and therefore recommends acquiring more knowledge. "This research therefore only shows the tip of the iceberg", Robbert van Duin notes.

Disguised landfill

Due to the shredding of the tyres, the harmful substances enter the environment more easily. This is therefore a textbook example of incorrect recycling and in fact a disguised landfill, completely in contradiction with the policy aimed at a circular economy.

Recycling Netwerk wrote in November 2016 to the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) with a request to enforce. In September 2017, the environmental organisation filed a report with the Public Prosecution Service of large-scale environmental offenses involving car tyre waste. In October, the Dutch investigative programme Zembla interviewed Recycling Netwerk chairman Robbert van Duin about this report, in the documentary Tot op de bodem. "Big mistakes have been made. The responsibilities must be investigated. How could the ministry have agreed to this? Businesses, municipalities and sports clubs now have a duty of care here. We think that this study is an important piece for the investigation by the Public Prosecutor", Recycling Netwerk concludes.

Highlights from the STOWA report:

“Across the various bioassays collectively, biological effects were determined at four of the ten sports facilities” (p. 8) “at the oldest field (28 year old) where a complete mortality of water fleas occurred, which can be explained by the high zinc concentrations in the drainage water. These high emissions are linked to the presence of rubber granulate on or in the field”. (p. 27) “These effects are caused by organic micro-pollutants and indicate that, in addition to metals, there are also elevated emissions of other substances, such as PAHs and benzothiazoles, from the rubber granulate, which is confirmed by chemical analyses. The consequences of these emissions are visible in the aquatic sediment, where accumulation of substances associated with rubber granulate appears to occur at six of the ten locations”. (Chapter 4.3 of the report Exploration of environmental impacts for the aquatic ecosystem).

Highlights from the RIVM report

The use of rubber granulate on artificial turf pitches can be harmful to the environment in the immediate vicinity of the pitches. Substances can leak from the rubber crumbs and end up in the soil around the pitches (the verge soil) and in the sludge in ditches. This is bad for the ecosystem because it affects biodiversity (p.3).

In the study, the quality of the environment around artificial turf pitches with rubber granulate from car tyres was compared with the environmental quality around real grass pitches. At various locations, the concentrations of zinc, cobalt and mineral oil at artificial turf pitches exceed the applicable standards for soil and aquatic sediment (Soil Quality Decree), whereas this is not the case for real grass pitches. The environment is particularly sensitive to high concentrations of zinc; zinc does not pose a health risk to humans. (Source: Public summary

Reports

The Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) conducted research on behalf of the Water Boards and published the results on Tuesday at https://www.stowa.nl/sites/default/files/assets/PUBLICATIES/Publicaties%202018/STOWA%202018-37%20Rubbergranulaat%20defversie.pdf

Study by the RIVM commissioned by I&W: https://www.rivm.nl/Documenten_en_publicaties/Wetenschappelijk/Rapporten/2018/Juli/Verkenning_milieueffecten_rubbergranulaat_bij_kunstgrasvelden

See also

Zembla: “RIVM: water and soil around artificial turf pitches polluted” Volkskrant: “RIVM: Rubber crumbs harmful to environment in the immediate vicinity of the pitches”

Recent articles from Recycling Netwerk about rubber granulate

[catlist search=”rubbergranulaat” date=”yes” orderby=”date”]

Excerpt Zembla 11 October 2017