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Circular procurement

Design the end of life before the field is installed

What happens to an artificial turf field at the end of its life is largely decided years earlier: in the design, the product choice and the contract. This section shows where those decisions are made and what has to be written down for the outcome to be verifiable.

01

Lifecycle procurement model

Twelve decision points from design to final destination. Each stage lists who decides, what is decided and what has to be recorded.

  1. 01

    Design

    The field concept, performance requirements and system build-up are set.

    Who decides: Client, adviser, sports federation requirements

    Decisions taken: System type, infill function, shockpad choice, drainage and sub-base build-up.

    End-of-life consequence: Almost every later separation problem is decided here.

    What to specify: Separability of layers, declared materials per layer, a required material passport.

    What to record: Design brief, chosen system build-up, reasoning for each layer.

    Common failure: End-of-life is treated as a later operational issue instead of a design requirement.

  2. 02

    Product selection

    A specific turf system, infill and shockpad are chosen.

    Who decides: Client, adviser, supplier

    Decisions taken: Yarn polymer, backing type and coating, infill material, shockpad type.

    End-of-life consequence: Mixed polymers and bonded coatings reduce what can later be separated and recycled.

    What to specify: Declared polymer per component, coating type, recycled content with evidence.

    What to record: Product data sheets, declared composition, supplier statements and their evidence label.

    Common failure: A single "recyclable" claim replaces a component-level declaration.

  3. 03

    Procurement

    The tender and contract are written and awarded.

    Who decides: Contracting authority

    Decisions taken: Award criteria, verification duties, take-back and end-of-life obligations.

    End-of-life consequence: What is not required in the contract cannot be demanded at removal.

    What to specify: Passport delivery, take-back terms, named processing and final destination reporting.

    What to record: Tender documents, clauses used, award justification.

    Common failure: Circularity is scored as an intention rather than a verifiable obligation.

  4. 04

    Installation

    The field is built and the system is fixed in place.

    Who decides: Contractor

    Decisions taken: Seaming, glueing, anchoring, infill quantities actually applied.

    End-of-life consequence: Glue and unrecorded infill quantities create unknowns at removal.

    What to specify: As-built recording of quantities and fixing methods.

    What to record: As-built passport update, delivery notes, infill tonnages.

    Common failure: As-built data is never fed back into the passport.

  5. 05

    Operation

    The field is in use.

    Who decides: Owner or operator

    Decisions taken: Use intensity, additional infill top-ups.

    End-of-life consequence: Top-ups change the material mass and mixture present at removal.

    What to specify: Logging of every material added.

    What to record: Top-up records with material, date and quantity.

    Common failure: Top-ups are invisible in the record.

  6. 06

    Maintenance

    Cleaning, decompaction and repairs take place.

    Who decides: Maintenance contractor

    Decisions taken: Cleaning method, infill removal and replacement, repair materials.

    End-of-life consequence: Removed infill can leave the field as an undocumented waste stream.

    What to specify: Reporting of removed and replaced material and where it went.

    What to record: Maintenance reports with quantities and destinations.

    Common failure: Material removed during maintenance is never traced.

  7. 07

    Material changes

    Components are replaced during the lifetime.

    Who decides: Owner, contractor

    Decisions taken: Partial replacement of infill, shockpad or turf sections.

    End-of-life consequence: The field at removal no longer matches the field that was installed.

    What to specify: Update of the passport after every change.

    What to record: Change log per component.

    Common failure: The passport is treated as a one-off document.

  8. 08

    Removal

    The field is taken out.

    Who decides: Owner, removal contractor

    Decisions taken: Removal method, separation on site, temporary storage.

    End-of-life consequence: Removal method determines whether fractions can still be separated.

    What to specify: Separation requirements and a ban on undocumented storage.

    What to record: Removal report, weighing tickets, photographs.

    Common failure: Material is removed before a processing route is contracted.

  9. 09

    Collection

    The material is transported and consigned.

    Who decides: Removal contractor, waste holder

    Decisions taken: Waste classification, consignment, destination facility.

    End-of-life consequence: Collection is a transport event, not a recycling outcome.

    What to specify: Waste codes, consignment notes, receiving facility named.

    What to record: Waste transfer documents per load.

    Common failure: Collection is reported as recycling.

  10. 10

    Processing

    A facility separates or treats the material.

    Who decides: Recycler

    Decisions taken: Separation technology, output fractions, residue handling.

    End-of-life consequence: Shredding alone does not make a stream recycled.

    What to specify: Mass balance per input load: inputs, outputs, residues.

    What to record: Facility mass balance and output specification.

    Common failure: Shredding output is counted as recycled tonnage.

  11. 11

    Secondary material

    Output fractions become products or feedstock.

    Who decides: Recycler, off-taker

    Decisions taken: Specification, testing, acceptance by a market.

    End-of-life consequence: Produced is not the same as sold and used.

    What to specify: Output specification, test results, named off-taker.

    What to record: Sales or transfer records per fraction.

    Common failure: Stockpiled output is presented as a secondary raw material.

  12. 12

    Final destination

    The material reaches its actual last application.

    Who decides: Off-taker, end user

    Decisions taken: Where the material is physically used, burned or disposed of.

    End-of-life consequence: This is the only stage that determines what actually happened.

    What to specify: Evidence of the final application per fraction.

    What to record: Verified final destination statement with evidence.

    Common failure: The chain is reported up to the recycler and stops there.

02

CTE material passport and infill passport

A passport records what is physically in the field: yarn, backings, sand, stabilising infill and performance infill, with quantities and attached documents. Stabilising and performance infill are recorded separately because infill is a function, not one material.

No published field passport yet. The structure is in place; passports are added as project data with documents becomes available.

Passport structure

  • Yarn polymer
  • Primary backing
  • Secondary backing
  • Backing coating
  • Shockpad
  • Sand (t)
  • Stabilising infill
  • Stabilising infill (t)
  • Performance infill
  • Performance infill (t)
  • Total installed (t)
  • Planned end-of-life route
  • Planned final destination

03

Design for disassembly and design for recycling

Design choices that decide whether fractions can be separated and recycled later.

Separable layers

Turf, shockpad and sub-base can be lifted apart without destroying each other.

End-of-life consequence: Clean polymer and clean shockpad fractions can be routed separately.

What to record: As-built record of the fixing method per layer.

Limited use of adhesives

Seams and perimeters are fixed with as little permanent adhesive as the system allows.

End-of-life consequence: Less glue contamination in the recovered polymer.

What to record: Seaming method recorded in the passport.

No undocumented materials

Nothing is installed that does not appear in the record.

End-of-life consequence: No unidentified fraction at removal.

What to record: Change log kept current through the lifetime.

Removal plan written at design stage

How the field will be taken out is described before it goes in.

End-of-life consequence: Fewer mixed loads and less temporary storage.

What to record: Removal plan attached to the passport.

Single polymer family per component

Yarn, backing and coating are chosen from one polymer family where possible.

End-of-life consequence: Higher chance of material recycling rather than downcycling.

What to record: Declared polymer per component with supplier evidence.

Declared composition per component

Every component is declared by material, not by product name only.

End-of-life consequence: Recyclers can plan a route before the field is removed.

What to record: Passport with declarations per layer.

Infill choice and separability

Stabilising and performance infill are specified separately and chosen for recoverability.

End-of-life consequence: Sand and performance infill can be recovered as separate fractions.

What to record: Delivery notes with material and tonnage.

04

Planned versus actual at end of life

The planned route is recorded at procurement; the actual route is recorded after removal. Where they differ, the difference is shown rather than resolved.

No completed planned-versus-actual comparison published yet. Comparisons appear once a field with a passport has been removed and its fractions traced.

05

Take-back

Take-back describes who removes the material. It says nothing by itself about where the material ends up.

CTE Data noteTake-back is not recycling. Collection is not recycling. The final destination determines what actually happened.

Collection-only take-back

Removed turf, infill and shockpad are collected by or on behalf of the supplier.

End-of-life consequence: Collection — outcome unknown

Evidence requested: A take-back promise describes who removes the material, not what happens to it.

Take-back with named processing

Material is delivered to a specified permitted facility.

End-of-life consequence: Processing known — final destination unknown

Evidence requested: Knowing the facility is not the same as knowing the outcome.

Take-back with reported final destination

Material is processed and each fraction is reported to a named receiving party.

End-of-life consequence: Final destination reported

Evidence requested: Reported destinations still need evidence per fraction before they count as verified.

Take-back with verified final destination

Each fraction is followed to its actual application and the evidence is checked independently.

End-of-life consequence: Final destination verified

Evidence requested: This is the only level at which a circularity claim can be evidenced.

06

Model clause library

Example wording that makes circularity verifiable rather than declarative. These are examples, not legal advice — adapt them to national procurement law and have them checked locally.

passport

Material passport delivery

The contractor shall deliver a material passport listing every component of the installed system, stating for each component the material family, the exact material, the supplier, the quantity installed and the fixing method. The passport shall be delivered as an as-built document within [x] weeks of completion and shall be updated after every material change during the contract period.

Evidence requested: As-built passport, delivery notes, product declarations.

Verification: Acceptance of the works is conditional on passport delivery.

Failure mode addressed: Composition is unknown at removal.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

Component-level material declaration

For each component the contractor shall declare the polymer or material family. A statement that the system as a whole is recyclable shall not be accepted as a declaration.

Evidence requested: Supplier declarations per component.

Verification: Declarations checked against delivered products.

Failure mode addressed: A blanket recyclable claim replaces real data.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

takeback

Named processing facility

The contractor shall name, before award, the facility at which the removed material will be processed, together with its permit reference. A change of facility requires prior written approval.

Evidence requested: Facility name, permit reference.

Verification: Permit reference checked with the competent authority.

Failure mode addressed: Take-back with no known processing route.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

Final destination reporting

The contractor shall report, per material fraction, the actual final destination of the removed material, including the receiving party and the application in which the material was used. Reporting stops at the recycler only where the recycler is the final user.

Evidence requested: Final destination statement per fraction.

Verification: Documentary evidence per fraction; spot checks permitted.

Failure mode addressed: The chain is reported only as far as the recycler.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

No undocumented storage

Removed material shall not be placed in temporary storage other than at a permitted site named in advance, and storage beyond [x] weeks requires written notification stating the intended processing route.

Evidence requested: Site name, permit, storage notification.

Verification: Site and permit checked before removal starts.

Failure mode addressed: Material disappears into unpermitted stockpiles.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

mass balance

Mass balance obligation

The processor shall provide a mass balance for the delivered material stating the tonnage received, the tonnage of each output fraction, the residue tonnage and the destination of each fraction. The sum of the reported outputs and residues shall reconcile with the tonnage received.

Evidence requested: Weighing tickets, mass balance statement.

Verification: Reconciliation against consignment notes.

Failure mode addressed: Output tonnages are reported without residues.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

Recycler declaration

The processor shall issue a declaration stating what was received, what was produced, what the output was specified for and to whom it was transferred. Declarations that state only that material was recycled shall not be accepted.

Evidence requested: Signed declaration with tonnages and off-takers.

Verification: Cross-check with the mass balance.

Failure mode addressed: A recycling certificate with no underlying data.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

removal

Separation at removal

The removal method shall keep turf, infill and shockpad as separate fractions unless the contractor demonstrates in advance that separation is technically impossible, in which case the reason shall be recorded.

Evidence requested: Removal method statement, photographs, weighing tickets.

Verification: Site inspection during removal.

Failure mode addressed: Everything leaves the site as one mixed load.

Example wording only. Not legal advice; adapt to national procurement law and have it checked locally.

07

Public procurement cases

No procurement case published yet. Cases are added only with documented tender and outcome evidence.

08

Tender document library

No tender document published yet. Documents are listed only when the source is public and the link is stable.

09

Municipality intelligence

No municipality profile published yet.

10

Connected sections

Procurement decisions are read together with the material, facility and country data.