Even Udinese Calcio recognises the benefits of the innovative synthetic turf football pitches made with rubber recycled from End-of-Life Tyres (ELTs): excellent performances, lower maintenance costs, greater resistance to weather conditions, for a circular economy that is good for sports too.
Is it possible to guarantee great sports performances and, at the same time, create value for the environment? The answer is yes, and the advantages are many – on both sides. The use of rubber recycled from End-of-Life tyres in synthetic turf football pitches allows athletic performances at the same level of natural turf pitches, and a reduction in management costs up to 50%. Moreover, it completely annuls phytosanitary costs and water consumption and it allows to play 24h/24 under any weather condition, even with strong wind, ice, rain, or frost.
These advantages have convinced Udinese Calcio to choose this solution for the requalification both of the pitch of their Sports Centre and the pitch side of Udine’s Stadium – the Dacia Arena– thanks to the partnership with Ecopneus – the non-profit company that guarantees the collection and recycling of ELTs in Italy. This technology has the highest international standards and is approved by UEFA and FIFA. It is periodically homologated by the Amateurs’ National League in Italy, for an innovative and forward-looking choice from the part of one of Italy’s oldest football clubs.
Over 25 tonnes of recycled rubber have been used for the Tyrefield football pitches chosen by Udinese Calcio, and made with the support of Limonta Sport. Over 9 tonnes of recycled rubber from ELTs have been used for the makeover of the 780 m2 of the areas of the pitch side of the Dacia Arena; for the works on the Sports Centre “Dino Bruseschi”, instead, about 16 tonnes of recycled rubber form ELTs have been used. This is the field where the players of the Udinese FC will be training and playing.
Franco Collavino, General Manager of Udinese Calcio, stated: “We are very pleased to be able to collaborate with a company like Ecopneus for the makeover of some areas of our Stadium and of the Bruseschi Sports Centre. We believe that the improvement of the fields where our players train is extremely important and, at the same time, we are convinced that it is important to develop our project from an sustainable point of view”
Giovanni Corbetta, General Manager of Ecopneus stated: “We are honoured and proud to put our knowledge at the disposal of a football club as important as Udinese Calcio. Field testing has demonstrated that the fields made with recycled rubber are as performing as professional natural turf; moreover, they improve the athletic performance, and allow other advantages from a management and maintenance point of view. This new collaboration confirms us, once more, that recycled rubber, thanks to its characteristics, is a precious material for sports. It is capable of combining great performances and environmental sustainability”
In the Tyrefield synthetic turf sports surfaces, the granules from ELTs are used as infill material among the grass blades or to make the layer below the playing surface. In this second case, the granules are combined in the shape of a special mat equipped with channels, which favours the levelling of the foundations. Moreover, they give elasticity to the surface, thus facilitating shock absorption, the restitution of the energy to the athlete, and the draining of rain water. Instead, used as infill among the grass blades, recycled rubber offers very performing for shock absorption, and prevents the vertical deformation of the surface, thus keeping high qualitative standards for the rolling and bouncing of the ball. At the same time, the infill keeps the grass blades straight and helps it to go back to its original position once trod on.
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