Two years ago the Northern Beaches council replaced the worn-out synthetic turf from a council oval, replacing natural grass with the product sometimes known as astroturf. The council had included in its contract a requirement that it be recycled and not sent to landfill – but federal legislation passed in 2020 meant that it was more difficult to export plastic waste to overseas facilities.
A permit was not granted, so the rolls of old turf sat for nearly 18 months until they were removed earlier this year. They are now in a container in a railway siding, awaiting the completion of a recycling plant capable of separating the various components that make up the product.
The rolls of old turf sitting by the side of the oval.
The rolls of old turf sitting by the side of the oval. Photograph: Natural Turf Alliance
The challenges of what to do with worn-out artificial turf, combined with growing concern about microplastics and the likelihood of more extreme weather events, make for a complex debate about its use in Australia. The Alliance for Natural Turf – 16 community groups concerned about artificial turf – has asked the NSW government for a 5-year moratorium on rolling out the product.
They say NSW should employ precautionary principles, warning little is known about the long-term impacts of the microplastics and chemicals that it could shed – including forever chemicals perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS chemicals.
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