Amsterdam CitySports project

Challenge

In the summer an artificial grass pitch can reach high temperatures, whereas the temperature of an adjacent natural grass pitch does not exceed 35 degrees Celsius. This results not only in uncomfortable playing conditions for athletes, it also strongly contributes to the urban heat island effect; a problem cities all around the world increasingly have to deal with because of climate change.

Project CitySports is a pilot project from the Top Consortia for Knowledge and Innovation (TKI) programme of the Water & Maritime Top Sector. The project focuses on innovations that revolve around urban cooling solutions, the circular use of (waste) material and rainwater, and safely playing sports on artificial grass pitches.The pilot resulted in a naturally cooled artificial grass pitch, without the need for using complex water-spraying systems or energy.

Veolia's solution

Veolia Polymers, leader in production and sale of high-quality compounds based on recycled polypropylene in the Netherlands, was able to develop a high performance rPP compound tailored to the needs of Permavoid.

For the CitySports Project and for newly constructed artificial grass pitches, Veolia supplies the plastic for the Permavoid sports foundation under the pitch. The foundations, which collects rain water, are made of fully circular rPP. The high-quality rPP meets all requirements for longevity, strength, rigidity and dimensional stability. Meanwhile, there are already several fields in Amsterdam, as well as in London, UK and Kobe, Japan.

> More information: website Project CitySports and website Permavoid.

Specific Benefits

• Long term relationship
  Partners commit on multi year contracts which allows them to structure the sector and to display their CSR commitments over the long term.

   

• Bespoke Products, Ecodesign
  Creating new products based on ecodesign is a major step to transfer the economy into a circular economy.

   

• Social value
  Veolia participates in the structuring, development and even creation of a waste value chain, emphasising the social benefits for all stakeholders.

   

• CO₂ reducing solution
  Veolia commits to target with its client net zero CO₂ emissions and focuses on deploying solutions.