Recycled rubber infill plays an important role in creating durable, reliable playing surfaces that communities can use throughout the year. Its durability and cost-effectiveness also make it a popular infill choice for field owners and operators. In colder climates, proper winter maintenance helps preserve those benefits while keeping recycled rubber infill where it belongs.
Established industry guidance and containment measures give field owners and operators practical ways to minimize infill migration during winter maintenance. From snow removal and storage to drainage and infill recovery, these practices help limit the movement of rubber particles into surrounding areas and waterways.
Managing Snow and Minimizing Infill Migration
When snow is removed from playing fields, some recycled rubber infill can be collected along with it. If that snow is stored along field edges or in surrounding areas, displaced infill may be left behind after snowmelt or carried toward nearby drainage systems. Proper snow management can help limit this movement.
Recover and reuse displaced infill. Collect accumulated infill after snowmelt and return suitable material to the field when practical, reducing waste and the need to purchase replacement infill.
Plan for local conditions. Consider field layout, drainage patterns, snow accumulation, and proximity to waterways when developing winter maintenance plans.
These measures can help field owners and operators reduce infill migration while maintaining the performance of their synthetic turf systems. Recovering and reusing infill can also help reduce maintenance costs by limiting the need for additional material.
Proven Containment Measures Make a Difference
Snow management is one part of a broader approach to responsible field maintenance. Perimeter barriers, entrance and exit grates, and drainage collection systems can also help keep recycled rubber infill within the playing area.
As the Recycled Rubber Coalition highlighted in its previous article, How Modern Containment Measures Reduce Microplastic Emissions from Synthetic Turf Fields, research at Cardigan Mountain in New Hampshire and Silkeborg in Denmark demonstrated that modern containment measures can reduce infill migration to as little as 10 kilograms per field annually, around 98% below earlier European Union estimates.
Together, these findings demonstrate how practical containment measures can help field owners and operators reduce infill migration as part of responsible field management.
Building on Progress in Responsible Field Management
A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering examined snow and recycled rubber infill from four synthetic turf fields in Sweden.
The study reinforces the importance of proper snow management, though it does not change the practical steps available to field owners and operators today. Established containment measures can reduce the movement of physical infill particles, although they do not necessarily prevent dissolved chemicals from moving through snowmelt.
Meanwhile, there were significant flaws in the study. To be sure, researchers identified tire-related compounds in snow samples, suggesting snow may serve as a pathway for some compounds associated with recycled rubber.
However, the study did not quantify concentrations in the original snow samples or measure them in surrounding waterways. It also did not establish that the detected compounds posed an environmental risk. The researchers called for additional research to better understand environmental exposure under realistic conditions.
Established guidance and proven containment practices give field owners and operators practical tools to keep recycled rubber infill in place, limit migration into surrounding areas, and maintain the benefits of their playing fields.
The Bottom Line
Keeping recycled rubber infill in place is an important part of responsible field management, and proven solutions are already available. With proper winter maintenance, effective containment measures, and regular infill recovery, communities can minimize infill migration and reduce the need for replacement materials while preserving the performance and cost-effectiveness of recycled rubber playing surfaces.
Additional Resources
ESTO — Minimising the Risk of Micro-Plastic Pollution
Industry guidance covering infill containment, winter maintenance, snow storage, drainage, and infill recovery.
https://www.estc.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ESTO-Minimising-Micro-Plastic-Pollution-Report.pdf
RRC — How Modern Containment Measures Reduce Microplastic Emissions from Synthetic Turf Fields
Research and practical applications of containment technologies at facilities in the United States and Denmark.
New Swedish Research on Snow and Recycled Rubber Infill
A study examining tire-related compounds in snow collected from four synthetic turf fields in Uppsala, Sweden.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213343726043009