As a result, a range of organic infill alternatives, such as cork, pine and birch wood, olive pits, and corn, are growing their market share. While it is currently uncertain whether the UK will adopt the ban of SBR (Styrene-Butadiene Rubber) infills, an increasing number of pitches are being installed with non-SBR infills, with several examples of Cork and Pine wood infills.
This evolution of infilled artificial grass pitches (AGPs) brings new questions and challenges around their maintenance for consistent and long-life performance. Unlike rubber crumb, the long-term behaviour of organic infills is not yet fully demonstrated or understood. Factors such as rate of infill loss, compaction, material durability and breakdown, and cold-weather performance (frost and freezing) all have implications for player safety, play performance, and capital and running costs for owner/operators.
To address these challenges, a new Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) was launched between Technical Surfaces (a Sportex Group Company), a leader in artificial pitch maintenance, and academic experts from Loughborough University’s Sport Surfaces Research Group – based in the world leading Sports Technology Institute.
A KTP is a collaborative initiative, part funded by Innovate UK, that brings together forward-thinking businesses and expert academics to tackle strategic innovation challenges and deliver economic, societal or environmental outcomes. Led by KTP Associate Zach Morley, this 30-month project is focused on developing evidence-based maintenance and performance monitoring frameworks for these next generation of organic infilled artificial pitches.
Building on many insights and innovative analysis techniques from a previous KTP, analysing rubber crumb systems, this KTP team is combining standard and modified on-site testing with novel laboratory analysis of these natural infill materials; which exhibit a wide variety of physical properties and more complex behaviour relative to SBR infills.
As an example, we have developed an innovative method for precisely measuring how the particle size distribution of installed organic infills may degrade in service, allowing for more accurate monitoring of infill breakdown. The potential degradation of infills is a key factor in the longevity of an AGP, and organic infills are generally considered as less durable than SBR.
Field testing is key for data-driven evaluation of the effectiveness of different maintenance techniques and the need to adapt their nature and frequency on these non-SBR systems. The collected data helps us model the expected degradation in performance of organic infilled pitches, and for Technical Surfaces to successfully design tailored asset management maintenance packages for the specific organic infill systems installed.
As the industry embraces and drives greater sustainability practice, it is concomitantly vital that we evolve effective maintenance management practice for these high cost and high value playing field assets, benefitting all the many stakeholders impacted.
