Could TreeHuggers soon find themselves hugging a fake tree or idly philosophizing in meadows of artificial grass? More than 225 million square feet of Astroturf have been manufactured since the plastic carpeting made its debut in — and got its name from — the Houston Astrodome. And the field is getting crowded with competitors. Claims are increasing that fake lawns are eco-friendly. Is it possible? Is it true?

Mother Nature v. Technology

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Mother Nature takes carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen as well as a few micro-nutrients, and makes strands of natural, green grass. How naturally? Well, none of the types of grasses typically grown on North American lawns evolved there. Even Kentucky Bluegrass is an import, according to the book Turf Wars.

Scientists took carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen and made nylon. The other typical raw material for artificial turf is polyethylene, which is made up of only carbon and hydrogen. Fake grass does not suffer from chlorine content like PVC, so score one for science.

Manufacturing Grass

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Sun, rain and dirt…that’s all mother nature needs. Or is it? Most lawns are overwatered, fertilized and strewn with pesticides. Fertilizers imbalance other living system when they run off, and pesticides… well, they are designed to kill.

But all is not well at the fake green side. Artificial grass does not have the natural mechanisms for cleaning and renewing itself that the natural variety has. So the question of hygiene arises, especially where children or sweaty athletes are involved. Many synthetic grasses have antimicrobial components. For example, Astroturf boasts the exclusive use of AlphaSan® antimicrobial protection by Milliken. AlphaSan® is silver sodium hydrogen zirconium phosphate, but any silver-based antimicrobial will raise similar issues.

According to reports submitted by the Milliken, the antimicrobial effectiveness of AlphaSan® is based on the release of silver ions. Such antimicrobial agents are so safe for humans that they are approved even for food contact applications. Testing even shows it is safe for birds and mammals. But silver ions are very toxic in the aquatic environment, with potential to bioaccumulate.

Manufacturers will certainly protest that the rate of release of silver ions is very low and the antimicrobial chemical is bound tightly into the plastic polymer. But with silver ions showing up in carpeting, appliances, cleaning products and even your socks, the impact of growing amounts of silver in the end-of-life product cycles certainly raises concerns about silver biocides.

Plus the waste from the chemical manufacturing processes for artificial grass must be taken into account. Score that game “rained out.” It will take a significantly more thorough life cycle analysis than the scope of this article to judge the winner of that argument.

Grass Decomposes; Artificial Turf, Not So Much

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At the end of its life, grass decomposes and returns to the natural cycles. Fake grass mostly ends up in the landfill. It rests there fairly harmlessly, eternally, which seems not all that ideal. Does that give Mother Nature the advantage? Hold on, not so nearly. Lawns only go to compost via the lawnmower, usually at the cost of disproportionate emissions. Maybe it is possible that plastic grass has less negative impact on the environment.

end of life

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But what about the other living creatures? If they could speak, they would certainly vote against the plastic alternative. And maybe we are asking the wrong questions. Who needs grass? Why not a wildflower garden, cactus-rock garden, or other scenery that harmonizes with the natural environment? With a small patch of organic grass kept in check by scythe. Now where did I put my gardening clogs?

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The City of New Rochelle continues to move towards a greener future in highly visible ways and in some ways, not quite as noticeable.

As part of New Rochelle’s GreenNR sustainability plan and the enhanced green requirements of the new Downtown Overlay Zone (DOZ) amendments, New Rochelle is taking new steps to promote environmentally friendly and sustainable landscaping practices.

In collaboration with Sustainable Westchester, American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA) and Quiet Communities Inc. (QCi), New Rochelle will work to create programs that will improve air quality and the quality of life and health of residents and public workers, along with healthier eco-systems for plants and pollinators, better social equity and long-term savings.

“Through this new partnership, unanimously supported by City Council, New Rochelle will launch a comprehensive program that will enable us to work collaboratively with residents and businesses, and position small local landscapers to help lead the transition to sustainable landscaping practices,” New Rochelle Deputy Mayor Sara Kaye said. “I am excited for the opportunity for New Rochelle to lead by example and create a model for the region of how to move away from harmful gas-powered equipment by implementing a program that will bring many health benefits, promote social equity, and improve our environment, while balancing the obstacles municipalities, residents, and small businesses may face during this transition.”

Through this partnership, New Rochelle has received a $210,000 grant from the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) Clean Energy Communities program to help achieve the goals.

“New Rochelle is proud to be a leader in municipal green policy,” Parks and Recreation Commissioner Vin Parise said. “Highlighting the importance of clean air is critical to promoting a healthy environment, and City departments leading that effort illustrates our strong commitment to creating a more sustainable future for neighborhoods across New Rochelle.”

New Rochelle says that the new environmental vision includes key policies:

• A Strategic Planning process that will involve stakeholder meetings to collaboratively and effectively lay the foundation for timely and diligent implementation of the overall project.

• A municipal AGZA-certified Green Zone program that will start by transitioning landscape maintenance at three sites managed by the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation from gas-powered landscape equipment to sustainable electric alternatives, and certifying the sites as AGZA Green Zones.

• A commercial program that will help local businesses facilitate similar transitions in their equipment through education, training, certification, and equipment rebates.

• A residential program that will offer rebates and education to help residents incorporate healthy land care practices; and encourage the establishment of residential AGZA Green Zones as sustainable land care models.

Elected officials and environmental leaders praised New Rochelle’s efforts to move from fossil-fuel powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers and trimmers that are harmful to the environment and the local ecosystem.

“At the center of this effort is making critical progress in mitigating climate change at all levels of government and the community,” said Nina Orville, Executive Director for Sustainable Westchester. “New Rochelle is leading by example, and we are proud to help them expand their commitments to improving the environment.”

the Cyclyx Intl. plastic-feedstock management consortium continues to grow, most recently with the addition of TenCate Grassa Netherlands-based manufacturer, distributor, and installer of synthetic turf for sports and landscaping applications.

Cyclyx works with partners throughout the supply chain to develop recycling solutions for a variety of plastics, diverting post-use plastics from waste streams for use as advanced-recycling feedstocks. The group’s mission is to increase the recyclability of plastic from 10% to 90%.

“Our expertise in the chemistry of waste plastics [enables] us to find circular pathways for nontraditional plastic like TenCate Grass’ custom turf materials, ensuring that the plastic in their products finds a second life in the creation of new products,” Joe Vaillancourt, CEO of Cyclyx, tells PlasticsToday.

The vast majority of TenCate’s synthetic turf is polyethylene, with a small amount of turf being made from polypropylene. The company also occasionally makes turf from nylon fibers, for specialty projects and applications.

TenCate takes a comprehensive approach to boosting product sustainability, including investing in infrastructure to collect, process, harvest, and reuse materials from its products at end of life. The company also designs its synthetic turf products for recycling.

Image courtesy of TenCate Grass

TenCate’s facility in Dayton, TN.

In the Netherlands, TenCate currently recycles its end-of-life turf into Ecocept, an elastic layer used to create sports fields. Membership in Cyclyx will help TenCate find ways to replicate its turf recycling success worldwide.

“Cyclyx is very excited to work with TenCate on creating circular pathways for their custom artificial turfs. When most people think of waste plastics, they think about the plastics they have in their homes such as films, takeout containers, and other types of plastics that we all use daily,” Vaillancourt says. “But in the world there are so many larger, non-traditional applications for plastics that get overlooked, such as artificial turf.”

“In working with TenCate Grass, we will be able to affect change on a larger scale by taking in a huge volume of material that we can then process and direct into effective recycling pathways, turning what was once thought of as waste into a valuable resource for the creation of new products,” Vaillancourt adds.

In the past several months, several industrial and consumer-facing companies have joined the Cyclyx consortium, including Suncast (See Cyclyx Consortium Gains Suncast as New Member, published March 2022); Velcro Companies; Advanced Drainage Systems; and Sealed Air.

Cyclyx was launched by Agilyx in 2020. Agilyx Group headquarters are in Portsmouth, NH, and operational activities are in Oregon and Switzerland.