Massive artificial turf for Euro 2024: "This is active environmental pollution"

Alexander Nolte and Oliver Spies founded Guppyfriend, a Berlin-based brand that has been working for years to reduce the amount of microplastics entering wastewater – including with a special wash bag for plastic clothing.

They also offer filter systems to combat microplastics. In an interview with heise online, they discuss the background to the artificial turf project at the Brandenburg Gate and what this could mean for the environment and water protection in the capital.

heise online: Mr. Nolte, Mr. Spies, were you surprised that they came up with the idea of building a 24,000 square meter plastic lawn for the EU Fan Mile in the middle of the capital's largest inner-city park, the Tiergarten?

Alexander Nolte: The whole thing is quite astonishing. Microplastics threaten animals, plants, microorganisms, our health and are fueling the climate crisis. We almost all know that by now, and there is sufficient evidence to prove it. Artificial turf – without suitable protective measures – emits large quantities of microplastics into the environment. This is also well known.

Just as bad as the damage to nature is the message that is being sent out into the world: Why should I start protecting the environment on a small scale at home when active pollution is being carried out in front of the Brandenburg Gate, in full view of the world, and current wastewater regulations are being flouted? Above all, it is incomprehensible to us that the idea is still being touted as sustainable with easily refutable arguments.

The EU has been dealing with the question of how to reduce microplastics for some time now – especially in the case of artificial turf. How did the operator, Kulturprojekte Berlin, come up with such an idea in 2024?

Oliver Spies: The European Championships would have been an excellent opportunity to hold a major sporting event in Germany in compliance with the highest environmental standards. Especially after the justified environmental criticism of the Football World Cup and Olympic Games in China, Russia, and Qatar.

We can only guess how this idea came about. Before the start of the European Championships, a nice picture was created for the media. But today we can no longer afford to think any further ahead than the next advertising coup.

The fact is that unnecessary plastic was produced, large quantities of whole plastic straws and their abrasion were discharged into nature. This is clearly visible on site. Hundreds of kilograms of plastic must have ended up in the waste water during the construction phase.

Have you been in contact with "Kulturprojekte Berlin"? What did they say about the reasons?

Nolte: We spoke to some people responsible for sustainability at the venues. Berlin is not alone. In Dortmund, artificial turf is used on a grand scale as a signpost from the train station to the stadium. "After a long period of planning, we shouldn't now also come up with concerns about environmental protection" was the message.

In conversations away from the media, we are already seeing a growing realization that it was not a good idea from an environmental perspective and that the "after-use concept" planned in Berlin – to put it mildly – also has its weaknesses.

Stuttgart, where the artificial turf pitch is not used for decorative purposes but for playing soccer and the necessary precautions against drifting and filters for waste water filtration have been installed, shows that there is another way.

heise online:Why is artificial turf still used at all? After all, it is known that it easily disintegrates and then disperses into the environment.

Spies: We are not fundamentally against artificial turf for sports, but against artificial turf as an unnecessary decorative accessory. Artificial turf plays an important social role. Without artificial turf, comprehensive training and match operations, even beyond soccer, are no longer conceivable.

However, artificial turf should only be used on structurally demarcated sports facilities that have suitable safety measures in place to prevent the escape of microplastics, such as protection against drifting and effective wastewater filtration.

The operator "Kulturprojekte Berlin" claims that the artificial turf is cleaned daily with machines so that fibers cannot run off. In addition, "special filtration plates" have been developed that absorb the remains of waste and dirt. Is that possible?

Nolte: The pollution in the Tiergarten and around the artificial turf pitch is visible to the naked eye - and that is only the visible part of the microplastic pollution. Filter plates are an alibi solution against microplastics. Vacuuming is not possible due to the sand strewn on the pitch. But if, as claimed, there is no abrasion, why take these precautions at all?

We suggested our filter solutions to the organizer, which have already proven their worth with Bundesliga soccer clubs and amateur clubs. Even if the soiling during set-up and due to drifting can no longer be reversed, it would have been possible to significantly reduce the discharge quantities during the tournament. But in all clarity: even that would not have made the idea of the artificial turf pitch in the Tiergarten a good one.

What happens if the plastic gets into the sewage system? Can it be filtered in the sewage treatment plants?

Spies: A certain amount of microplastics can be filtered out in sewage treatment plants. However, it's more the larger particles. Together with the organic waste, these are then often used as sewage sludge for fertilizing and are thus returned to nature.

And unfortunately, the smallest particles are only produced on the way from the source to the sewage treatment plant. This means that the particles grind up or decompose in the sewage system and in nature before they reach the sewage treatment plant. It would therefore be ideal to stop most of the particles with fine screens or filters at the point of origin and dispose of them properly.

What methods are there to prevent the distribution of artificial turf particles?

Spies: With Guppyfriend, we are developing easy-to-use filter solutions for use at home and solutions against microplastic pollution during cleaning, washing, road and tire abrasion and also for artificial turf pitches. The challenges of retrofitting existing artificial turf pitches vary depending on the wastewater system. Every pitch should have protection against drifting, so-called clean running zones and wastewater filtration.

At VfL Wolfsburg, we used simple gutter and gully filter systems to retain 500 kg of microplastics per pitch in just a few weeks. Gladbach and Augsburg, for example, required additional filter systems for sludge shafts.

It is not possible to completely prevent the discharge of microplastics. But whether it's washing our jerseys, choosing the right detergent or even the artificial turf pitch, we can make a big contribution to environmental protection with many small decisions.

You yourself sell products that prevent microplastics from escaping. Of course, you are not neutral. Why not let people have fun watching soccer matches on a photogenic artificial pitch?

Nolte: People in Munich or Düsseldorf certainly don't have any less fun at public viewings without artificial turf. And nobody should be neutral when it comes to preserving nature and health. We could combine environmental protection with innovative solutions made in Germany. Circularity and the clever use of resources are the issues of our time. Protecting the environment and having fun watching soccer are not mutually exclusive.

What could the operator of the fan zone have done better?

Nolte: Not to lay artificial turf in nature in the first place. But we're repeating ourselves here. It's much more exciting to discuss how we can prevent this from happening in the future.

How can we manage to not only see environmental protection as a necessary evil at home, in companies and at future sporting events and limit it to declarations of intent, but also make the right decisions and act accordingly?

Spies: It is also important to understand that environmental problems should not be viewed in isolation. Every environmental issue, be it microplastics or CO₂ emissions, contributes to a complex network of challenges that threaten our health and our planet. To say that we should not take action because other concerns seem bigger is like saying that we should not pursue climate targets because other countries are emitting more.

(bsc)