Countries

Artificial turf recycling in Slovakia

Recycling infrastructure, regulation, material flows and end-of-life status.

Dataset: FROZEN v1.0Verified: 2026-09-30Sources: 21QA: QA PASSED WITH DOCUMENTED UNKNOWN

Executive snapshot

Slovakia has a long history of artificial-turf football development and continues to invest in new synthetic pitches, but CTE has not identified a current national installed-stock total, measured annual end-of-life flow or verified dedicated domestic synthetic-turf recycling facility. Historical figures (23 pitches in 2006; a 20-field SFZ / UEFA HatTrick programme and 11 standard pitches in eastern Slovakia in 2015; a 17-pitch HatTrick IV programme in 2017; 17 small pitches in eastern Slovakia in 2005) differ in year, region, field size and programme and are never added. 2026 public procurement shows continuing construction (Čierny Balog) and natural-grass-to-synthetic conversions (Nitra, Púchov / Nosice, Svit) — new construction, not EOL replacement. CTE has not identified a currently active Slovak fixed full-field synthetic-turf recycling facility that meets the CTE public-evidence standard. Waste Park (Bučany) is a general plastics / tyre recycler, not a turf recycler. Dedicated turf recycling: NOT PUBLICLY VERIFIED TO CTE STANDARD.

Major caveat

23 / 20 / 17 / 11 are NEVER added or averaged (different years, programmes, regions, field types). Programme counts ≠ completed stock. 44 SFZ-supported applications ≠ 44 artificial-turf fields. Procurement value ≠ turf value ≠ recycling investment. Nitra 9,250 m² is overall project area for a natural-grass conversion — not old synthetic turf. New construction ≠ replacement. Waste Park = general plastics / tyre recycler; KOBASEAL = seller / installer (>400 cumulative installations = company claim). Tyre recycling ≠ turf recycling. 17 02 03 ≠ universal turf code. Synthetic sports surface ≠ artificial turf. 0 fixed pins ≠ no recycling; no ranking.

Evidence status

v1.0 (30 Sep 2026) — national stock, area, EOL, replacements, capacity, throughput and treatment split UNKNOWN; 0 verified fixed or mobile turf processors

National EOL basis

UNKNOWN — no national CTE model

Market size & installed base

CURRENT

CURRENT VERIFIED NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL-TURF PITCH COUNT: UNKNOWN · AREA: UNKNOWN. SFZ Súťažný poriadok futbalu effective 1 July 2026 — football-governance framework, not an environmental permit or recycling rule. 2026 activity: Čierny Balog new artificial-turf football pitch (published 24 Feb 2026, estimated value EUR 1,212,003.69; result notice published). Nitra (Golianova 70): natural grass → synthetic turf, 9,250 m² overall works. Púchov / Nosice: 113 × 76 m overall, 105 × 68 m marking, 20 mm XPE elastic layer, 40 mm 3G turf, FIFA QUALITY PRO. Svit: natural grass → artificial surface (design 2024). 2025 reconstruction programme covers EPDM, tartan and artificial turf. SFZ supported 44 mixed infrastructure applications (incl. MŠK Púchov, MFK Nová Baňa). MFK Nová Baňa advertises a new “4th generation” Radici pitch (club claim).

HISTORICAL

HISTORICAL ONLY, NOT ADDED: 2006 — 23 artificial-turf pitches in Slovakia (national statement). 2015 — SFZ approved ≈EUR 2.035 million through UEFA HatTrick for 20 artificial-turf surfaces (programme count); eastern Slovakia then had 11 standard-size artificial-turf pitches (regional installed count). 2017 — UEFA HatTrick IV programme of 17 pitches; Stará Ľubovňa = project no. 6. 2005 — 17 small artificial-turf pitches in eastern Slovakia (regional small-pitch context).

MODELLED

No CTE stock model. Legacy desk model archived.

UNKNOWN

Current national stock and area; landscape, padel, tennis, multisport and hybrid turf (kept separate from football; EPDM / tartan / PU are not artificial turf).

End-of-life market

Publicly verified national tonnage

MEASURED NATIONAL EOL TONNAGE: UNKNOWN · ANNUAL REPLACEMENTS: UNKNOWN. Public sources show new construction, natural-grass conversions and multi-surface reconstruction, but no complete national annual artificial-turf replacement count.

CTE MODEL — PUBLIC INPUTS

No Slovakia EOL model in v1.0 (historic programme counts are not multiplied by a field mass or divided by a lifetime).

HISTORICAL

Legacy CTE desk model (installed base × renovation cycle × 28–35 kg/m²) archived 30 Sep 2026.

Uncertainty & methodology

Treatment split (reuse, material recycling, energy recovery, landfill / disposal, export): UNKNOWN — no chart. Export volumes and destination countries UNKNOWN (not inferred from proximity). Destinations of sand, used SBR / EPDM / TPE and PE/PP carpet: UNKNOWN.

Recycling infrastructure

Infrastructure

0 Active full / multi-fraction recycling sites
0 Active part-stream processing sites
0 Active pre-processors (incl. mobile, no fixed site)
0 Historical / closed sites
0 Development / permit projects

Public data availability

Public capacity available: NO

Actual throughput available: NO

Units and system definitions differ between facilities; CTE does not rank or total capacity.

NO CURRENT FIXED SLOVAK END-OF-LIFE SYNTHETIC-TURF MATERIAL-RECYCLING FACILITY VERIFIED TO CTE PUBLIC-EVIDENCE STANDARD. Active turf-recycler pins: 0. Not pinned: Waste Park (turf input not verified), KOBASEAL (installer), SFZ facilities and project sites (pitches, not processors). This does not mean that no EOL activity, export, reuse or generic acceptance of turf fractions exists — those flows are simply not publicly verified at national level.

Facility detail cards

Secondary material market / circular value chain (not recycling infrastructure)

These actors do not physically process end-of-life synthetic turf. They are excluded from recycler counts, the recycler map and capacity figures.

WASTE PARK, s.r.o. — GENERAL PLASTICS / TYRE RECYCLER + POTENTIAL DOWNSTREAM MATERIAL ACTOR — NOT A SYNTHETIC-TURF RECYCLER
KOBASEAL / Umelý-trávnik.eu — ARTIFICIAL-TURF SELLER / INSTALLER — NOT A RECYCLER

Material flow

Only steps supported by public evidence are filled. Energy recovery is not material recycling; export and storage are not final destinations.

1. Field
PUBLIC EVIDENCE
Construction / conversion projects documented; national stock UNKNOWN.
2. Removal
UNKNOWN
No national replacement / removal data.
3. Infill separation
UNKNOWN
No verified infill separation operator.
4. Turf carpet
UNKNOWN
Carpet destination UNKNOWN.
5. Processing
UNKNOWN
0 verified fixed full-field, part-stream, infill or mobile processors.
6. Output fractions
UNKNOWN
No verified output fractions.
7. Secondary material
UNKNOWN
Tyre-derived rubber (Waste Park) is upstream supply, not turf recycling.
8. Final destination
UNKNOWN
National destination split UNKNOWN.

Capacity vs throughput

These categories are never added together: capacity is not throughput, a target is not a realised volume, and historical data is not current data.

KNOWN CAPACITY

CURRENT VERIFIED NATIONAL TURF-RECYCLING CAPACITY: UNKNOWN. No verified turf processor, so no facility capacity. Waste Park turf-specific capacity: UNKNOWN / NOT VERIFIED.

KNOWN THROUGHPUT

CURRENT VERIFIED NATIONAL TURF-RECYCLING THROUGHPUT: UNKNOWN. Waste Park turf-specific throughput: UNKNOWN / NOT VERIFIED.

UNKNOWN THROUGHPUT

No numeric capacity or throughput figure is published. Waste Park's 99.9% purity is a company product-quality claim for tyre rubber recyclate — not a turf metric. EUR 1,212,003.69 (Čierny Balog) is a procurement value — not capacity.

HISTORICAL

None.

TARGETS

No national synthetic-turf recycling target identified.

Regulatory context

SLOVAKIA — REGULATORY CONTEXT. From 17 October 2031, granular polymeric infill for synthetic sports surfaces may no longer be placed on the EU market (Regulation (EU) 2023/2055). This concerns placing infill on the market; it does not itself mandate closure, removal or replacement of existing pitches and is not a ban on artificial turf. Act No. 79/2015 Coll. on Waste is the national waste framework (collection, recovery, disposal, waste handling), amended by Act No. 188/2025 Coll. effective 15 July 2025 — no turf-specific rules inferred. The Slovak waste catalogue (284/2001) includes 17 02 03 plastics; a universal Slovak EOL synthetic-turf waste code is NOT ESTABLISHED. SFZ competition rules are football governance, not environmental regulation.

Data gaps

NO PUBLICLY VERIFIED VALUE AVAILABLE — an unknown is a deliberate evidence status, not a missing page element.

DATA GAPCURRENT NATIONAL STOCK AND AREA — UNKNOWN
DATA GAPMEASURED EOL TONNAGE AND ANNUAL REPLACEMENTS — UNKNOWN
DATA GAPNATIONAL TURF-RECYCLING CAPACITY AND THROUGHPUT — UNKNOWN
DATA GAPTREATMENT SPLIT — UNKNOWN
DATA GAPDESTINATIONS OF SAND, SBR / EPDM / TPE AND CARPET — UNKNOWN
DATA GAPEXPORT VOLUMES AND DESTINATION COUNTRIES — UNKNOWN
DATA GAPLANDSCAPE, PADEL, TENNIS AND HYBRID TURF — STOCK, EOL AND ROUTES UNKNOWN
DATA GAPUNIVERSAL TURF WASTE CODE — NOT ESTABLISHED

Sources

Public source chain (29)PUBLIC SOURCE CHAIN VALIDATED — DATA GAPS REMAIN

Each statement: claim → public source → date → evidence label → limitation. Figures are shown separately and never added together.

CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Slovakia — current verified national turf-recycling capacity: UNKNOWN; throughput: UNKNOWN. Generic plastics or tyre tonnage is never imported into turf capacity.
CURRENT 2026 PUBLIC ARTIFICIAL-TURF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT · official_source_verified
Čierny Balog: public procurement 'Futbalové ihrisko s umelou trávou' published 24 February 2026, estimated value EUR 1,212,003.69; a 2026 result notice was published. New construction project — project value is not turf value, recycling investment or market size.
Sources: [1] uvo.gov.sk [2] uvo.gov.sk
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Current national destinations of removed sand, used SBR / EPDM / TPE infill and PE/PP turf carpet from Slovak fields: UNKNOWN. New or tyre-derived rubber granulate production is not recycling of used field infill.
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Slovakia — measured national artificial-turf EOL tonnage: UNKNOWN; annual replacements: UNKNOWN; national treatment split (reuse, material recycling, energy recovery, landfill / disposal, export): UNKNOWN. No Slovakia tonnes/year model in v1.0; the legacy desk model is archived.
CURRENT EU / SLOVAK REGULATORY CONTEXT · official_source_verified
From 17 October 2031, granular polymeric infill for synthetic sports surfaces may no longer be placed on the EU market (Regulation (EU) 2023/2055; Slovakia is an EU Member State). The restriction concerns placing infill on the market and does not itself mandate closure, removal or replacement of existing pitches.
Sources: [1] eur-lex.europa.eu
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Current measured export volume of Slovak EOL artificial turf and destination countries: UNKNOWN. No destination is inferred from geographic proximity or foreign facilities.
HISTORICAL PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION DATA · official_source_verified
Historical (2017): SFZ stated that a UEFA HatTrick IV programme of 17 artificial-turf pitches was being implemented progressively; the Stará Ľubovňa field was project number 6.
Sources: [1] sportnet.sme.sk
HISTORICAL REGIONAL SMALL-PITCH CONTEXT · official_source_verified
Historical (2005): eastern Slovak football reporting referred to 17 small artificial-turf pitches in that region (not combined with full-size counts).
Sources: [1] sportnet.sme.sk
HISTORICAL 2006 NATIONAL FOOTBALL-INFRASTRUCTURE STATEMENT · official_source_verified
Historical (2006): Sportnet reported that 23 artificial-turf pitches were then available in Slovakia. Historical only — not current stock.
Sources: [1] sportnet.sme.sk
REGIONAL HISTORICAL INSTALLED COUNT · official_source_verified
Historical (2015): eastern Slovakia then had 11 standard-size artificial-turf football pitches (regional historical count, not national stock).
Sources: [1] sportnet.sme.sk
HISTORICAL SFZ / UEFA DEVELOPMENT-PROGRAMME CONTEXT · official_source_verified
Historical (2015): SFZ had approved approx. EUR 2.035 million through UEFA HatTrick for 20 artificial-turf playing surfaces across Slovakia (programme / development count, not stock).
Sources: [1] sportnet.sme.sk
ARTIFICIAL-TURF SELLER / INSTALLER (COMPANY CLAIM) · company_reported
KOBASEAL / Umelý-trávnik.eu sells and installs decorative, landscape and sports artificial turf; the company reports being founded in 2007 and more than 400 installations over its history (cumulative company claim — not national stock, annual volume, EOL or recycling throughput). Not a recycler; no pin.
Sources: [1] umely-travnik.eu
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Slovakia map: 0 standard synthetic-turf recycler pins. Waste Park (turf input not verified), KOBASEAL (installer), SFZ facilities and project sites (pitches, not processors) are not pinned as turf recyclers. 0 pins does not mean that no EOL activity, export, reuse or generic acceptance of turf fractions exists.
PUBLIC ARTIFICIAL-TURF CONSTRUCTION / CONVERSION PROJECT · official_source_verified
Nitra (Golianova 70): procurement for sports infrastructure with artificial turf replacing an existing natural-grass field; 9,250 m² is the overall proposed works area — not old synthetic turf and not an EOL replacement.
Sources: [1] uvo.gov.sk
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
The historical figures 23, 20, 17 and 11 differ in year, scope, programme, geography and field type and may overlap; CTE never adds or averages them into a current stock.
CURRENT LOCAL FACILITY EXAMPLE (CLUB CLAIM) · company_reported
MFK Nová Baňa advertises a new artificial-turf pitch described as '4th generation' from Radici — club / product claim, not a standardised CTE material classification; not counted into any national total.
Sources: [1] mfknovabana.sk
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Slovakia — current landscape, padel, tennis and hybrid turf stock, EOL and recycling: UNKNOWN; kept separate from football. EPDM, tartan and PU are separate material systems — synthetic surface ≠ synthetic turf.
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
CTE has not identified a currently active Slovak fixed full-field synthetic-turf recycling facility that meets the CTE public-evidence standard. Verified: fixed full-field 0; fixed turf-derived part-stream 0; used-infill processors 0; mobile pre-processors 0 — no operator verified, not proof that none exists.
CURRENT / RECENT PUBLIC ARTIFICIAL-TURF PROJECT · official_source_verified
MŠK Púchov / Nosice: artificial-turf pitch procurement, 113 × 76 m overall, 105 × 68 m marking, 20 mm XPE elastic layer, 40 mm third-generation turf, FIFA QUALITY PRO specification — installation activity, not EOL recycling evidence.
Sources: [1] uvo.gov.sk
CURRENT MULTI-SURFACE SPORTS-INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNISATION CONTEXT · official_source_verified
A 2025 public reconstruction programme covers replacement / modernisation of ageing sports surfaces including EPDM, tartan and artificial turf — not every surface is artificial turf.
Sources: [1] uvo.gov.sk
CURRENT SPORTS-INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT PIPELINE · official_source_verified
SFZ reported supporting 44 applications for Fund for the Promotion of Sport projects, including artificial-turf / stadium projects such as MŠK Púchov and MFK Nová Baňa among other infrastructure types. 44 applications ≠ 44 artificial-turf fields; not completed installations.
Sources: [1] sportnet.sme.sk
CURRENT NATIONAL FOOTBALL-GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK · official_source_verified
SFZ publishes the Súťažný poriadok futbalu (competition rules) effective from 1 July 2026 — football-governance context only, not an environmental permit or recycling regulation.
Sources: [1] futbalsfz.sk
CTE DATA GAP / AUDIT CONCLUSION · unknown
Slovakia — current verified national artificial-turf pitch count: UNKNOWN; current verified national area: UNKNOWN. CTE has not identified a sufficiently complete current public national census. No national total is built from SFZ programmes, municipal facilities, UEFA HatTrick projects or procurement notices.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT / NEW ARTIFICIAL-SURFACE MARKET ACTIVITY · official_source_verified
Svit: 2024 project documentation for a football pitch changing natural grass to an artificial surface with lighting and irrigation / cooling — new artificial-surface activity, not old turf EOL.
Sources: [1] uvo.gov.sk
CURRENT NATIONAL WASTE FRAMEWORK · official_source_verified
Act No. 79/2015 Coll. on Waste is Slovakia's national waste framework for collection, recovery, disposal and waste handling; no facility-specific permit claims are derived from it.
Sources: [1] slov-lex.sk
CURRENT LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT · official_source_verified
Act No. 188/2025 Coll., effective 15 July 2025, amends Act 79/2015; no turf-specific rules are inferred.
Sources: [1] slov-lex.sk
NATIONAL WASTE-CATALOGUE CATEGORY · official_source_verified
The Slovak waste catalogue includes 17 02 03 plastics. This does not establish 17 02 03 as the code for every EOL artificial-turf system or fraction; a universal Slovak EOL synthetic-turf waste code is NOT ESTABLISHED.
Sources: [1] slov-lex.sk
OFFICIAL ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE-FACILITY EVIDENCE · official_source_verified
Enviroportal records the EIA project 'Stredisko odpadového hospodárstva — Priemyselná zóna Ilona' in Bučany (developer Waste Park, s.r.o.) for a waste-management centre covering plastics waste, construction waste and other recovery / collection activities. No approved source shows EOL synthetic turf as an accepted input — not a turf processor, no turf-recycler pin, zero contribution to turf counts, capacity or throughput.
Sources: [1] enviroportal.sk
COMPANY-REPORTED TYRE RECYCLING / PRODUCT QUALITY CLAIM · company_reported
WASTE PARK, s.r.o. states that it recycles end-of-life tyres and produces rubber recyclate with reported purity up to 99.9% (company claim). Tyre recycling is upstream circular rubber supply — not used turf-infill recycling.
Sources: [1] wastepark.sk [2] wastepark.sk

All public sources (deduplicated) (21)

Each URL is listed once; the claim-source links above are preserved per statement.

Enviroportal (MŽP SR) — EIA — Stredisko odpadového hospodárstva — Priemyselná zóna Ilona · enviroportal.sk · 1 statements
EUR-Lex — Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 · eur-lex.europa.eu · 1 statements
SFZ — Legislatíva — predpisy SFZ — poriadky · futbalsfz.sk · 1 statements
MFK Nová Baňa — Umelá tráva · mfknovabana.sk · 1 statements
Slov-Lex — Vyhláška č. 284/2001 Z. z. — Katalóg odpadov · slov-lex.sk · 1 statements
Slov-Lex — Zákon č. 79/2015 Z. z. o odpadoch · slov-lex.sk · 1 statements
Slov-Lex — Zákon č. 188/2025 Z. z. · slov-lex.sk · 1 statements
Sportnet (SME) — Aj Snina bude mať futbalovú umelú trávu · sportnet.sme.sk · 2 statements
SFZ / Futbalnet — Ihrisko Stará Ľubovňa · sportnet.sme.sk · 1 statements
Sportnet (SME) — Zelená je aj umelá tráva · sportnet.sme.sk · 1 statements
Sportnet (SME) — Začali s výstavbou umelého ihriska v Michalovciach · sportnet.sme.sk · 1 statements
SFZ / Futbalnet — VV SFZ celkovo podporil 44 žiadostí pre Fond na podporu športu · sportnet.sme.sk · 1 statements
KOBASEAL / Umelý-trávnik.eu — Company website · umely-travnik.eu · 1 statements
ÚVO — Futbalové ihrisko s umelou trávou — Čierny Balog (oznámenie 1390636) · uvo.gov.sk · 1 statements
ÚVO — Výstavba športovej infraštruktúry — umelá tráva, Golianova 70, Nitra (1285497) · uvo.gov.sk · 1 statements
ÚVO — FUTBALOVÉ IHRISKO – UMELÁ TRÁVA, MŠK Púchov / Nosice (1322301) · uvo.gov.sk · 1 statements
ÚVO — Futbalové ihrisko s umelým povrchom — Svit (1321780) · uvo.gov.sk · 1 statements
ÚVO — Rekonštrukcia športových povrchov 2025 (1367836) · uvo.gov.sk · 1 statements
ÚVO — Čierny Balog — výsledok (oznámenie 1402350) · uvo.gov.sk · 1 statements
WASTE PARK, s.r.o. — Company website · wastepark.sk · 1 statements
WASTE PARK, s.r.o. — Produkty a služby · wastepark.sk · 1 statements

CTE data quality

Claims

Sources

Claim-source links

Facilities

Official / regulatory sources

Last audited

2026-09-30

Final status: QA PASSED WITH DOCUMENTED UNKNOWN — QA PASSED — FROZEN (v1.0, 30 Sep 2026)