SIST-TP CEN/TR 17519:2020

Surfaces for sports areas - Synthetic turf sports facilities - Guidance on how to minimize infill dispersion into the environment

This document describes ways of containing infill materials used in many types of synthetic turf sports fields within the confines of the sports field, so they are not dispersed into the surrounding environment.
The options described are based on examples of best practice identified by members of CEN/TC 217.
This document is intended to be of practical use, to create awareness amongst field designers, venue owners, installation companies and those maintaining synthetic turf sports fields. It is applicable for all forms of synthetic turf sports field, from those used for community activities to those used by professional and elite level athletes.

Sportböden - Kunststoffrasenflächen - Leitfaden zur Minimierung des Austrags von Verfüllgut in die Umgebung

Dieses Dokument beschreibt Möglichkeiten, Füllmaterialien, die in vielen Arten von Kunststoffrasenfeldern verwendet werden, innerhalb der Grenzen des Sportplatzes zu halten, damit diese nicht in die Umgebung gelangen.
Die beschriebenen Optionen basieren auf Beispielen bewährter Methoden, die von Mitgliedern des CEN/TC 217 ermittelt wurden.
Dieses Dokument soll einen praktischen Nutzen haben, um Sportplatzbauer, Sportplatzeigentümer, Einbaufirmen und die für die Wartung der Kunststoffrasenfelder Verantwortlichen für das Thema zu sensibilisieren. Es ist auf alle Arten von Kunststoffrasenfeldern anwendbar, angefangen bei Sportplätzen für den Breitensport bis hin zu Sportplätzen für Athleten des Leistungs- und Spitzensports.

Sols sportifs - Installations sportives en gazon synthétique - Recommandations pour limiter la dispersion des matériaux de remplissage dans l'environnement

Le présent document décrit des moyens de contenir les matériaux de remplissage utilisés dans de nombreux types de terrains sportifs en gazon synthétique dans les limites du terrain sportif, afin d'empêcher leur dispersion dans le milieu ambiant.
Les options décrites sont fondées sur des exemples de bonnes pratiques identifiés par les membres du CEN/TC 217.
Le présent document est destiné à une utilisation pratique afin de sensibiliser les concepteurs de terrains, les propriétaires de sites, les entreprises d'installation et les entreprises chargées de l'entretien des terrains sportifs en gazon synthétique.  Il s'applique à toutes les formes de terrains sportifs en gazon synthétique, aussi bien ceux utilisés pour des activités collectives que ceux utilisés par des athlètes professionnels et de haut niveau.

Podloge za športne dejavnosti - Umetne travnate podloge športnih objektov - Navodilo za zmanjšanje razprševanja polnila v okolje

General Information

• Status: Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 19-May-2020
• Publication Date: 15-Nov-2020
• ICS: 97.150 - Floor coverings
• ICS: 97.220.10 - Sports facilities
• Technical Committee: SPO - Sports
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 25-Aug-2020
• Due Date: 30-Oct-2020
• Completion Date: 16-Nov-2020
• Ref Project: CEN/TR 17519:2020 - Surfaces for sports areas - Synthetic turf sports facilities - Guidance on how to minimize infill dispersion into the environment

Overview

CEN/TR 17519:2020 - "Surfaces for sports areas - Synthetic turf sports facilities - Guidance on how to minimize infill dispersion into the environment" provides practical guidance to contain particulate infill used in synthetic turf sports fields so it is not dispersed into surrounding environments. The technical report responds to growing concerns about microplastics and describes best-practice design, installation, operation, maintenance and end-of-life measures identified by CEN/TC 217 members. It applies to all synthetic turf types, from community pitches to elite competition fields.

Key Topics

• Infill types and role: Differentiates stabilizing infill (ballast) and performance infill (player protection, ball behaviour). Typical infill particle sizes are in the 0.5–2.5 mm range; many polymeric granules fall within the EU microplastic definition (≤5.0 mm).
• Infill migration routes: Lists common transport mechanisms - players (clothing/footwear), snow clearance, maintenance equipment/practices, storage, surface water run-off and wind.
• Carpet and pile design: Recommends higher tuft densities and certain pile constructions (e.g., thatch zone, curled/texturized yarns) to reduce infill mobility and loss.
• Shockpads: Using shockpads can reduce required performance infill volumes (and therefore migration risk); shockpads should meet appropriate performance requirements (see prEN 15330‑4 reference).
• Infill properties: Angular granules interlock better and are less mobile than rounded beads; dust content should be classified as “Very Low” or “Low” per EN 15051‑1 to reduce fine particulate release.
• Field geometry and drainage: Advises limiting longitudinal slope (recommendation not to exceed 0.5%) to reduce downhill infill movement and describes vertical vs. horizontal drainage systems and their effects on lateral transport.
• Operational measures: Best practices for installation, maintenance routines, snow clearance, storage, and end-of-life removal and retrofitting options to limit dispersion.

Applications

This guidance is intended for:

• Field designers and specifiers - to choose turf systems, tuft density, infill type and drainage that limit migration.
• Venue owners and asset managers - for operational policies, maintenance schedules and environmental compliance.
• Installation and maintenance contractors - to adopt installation, snow removal and maintenance practices that reduce infill loss.
• Regulators and environmental officers - as a practical reference for mitigating microplastic emissions from sports facilities.

Keywords: CEN/TR 17519, synthetic turf, infill dispersion, microplastics, sports field design, infill migration, field maintenance.

Related Standards

• EN 15330‑1 - Properties required for synthetic turf for community sports
• prEN 15330‑4 - Shockpad performance (referenced)
• EN 15051‑1 - Infill dust classification
• FIFA / World Rugby test methods (Infill Splash Test referenced)

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-december-2020
Podloge za športne dejavnosti - Umetne travnate podloge športnih objektov -
Navodilo za zmanjšanje razprševanja polnila v okolje
Surfaces for sports areas - Synthetic turf sports facilities - Guidance on how to minimize
infill dispersion into the environment
Sportböden - Kunststoffrasenflächen - Leitfaden zur Minimierung des Austrags von
Verfüllgut in die Umgebung
Sols sportifs - Installations sportives en gazon synthétique - Recommandations pour
limiter la dispersion des matériaux de remplissage dans l'environnement
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 17519:2020
ICS:
97.150 Talne obloge Floor coverings
97.220.10 Športni objekti Sports facilities
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

CEN/TR 17519
TECHNICAL REPORT
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE
July 2020
TECHNISCHER BERICHT
ICS 97.150; 97.220.10
English Version
Surfaces for sports areas - Synthetic turf sports facilities -
Guidance on how to minimize infill dispersion into the
environment
Sols sportifs - Installations sportives en gazon Sportböden - Kunststoffrasenflächen - Leitfaden zur
synthétique - Recommandations pour limiter la Minimierung des Austrags von Verfüllgut in die
dispersion des matériaux de remplissage dans Umgebung
l'environnement
This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 12 July 2020. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 217.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2020 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 17519:2020 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Sports performance . 7
5 Infill migration routes . 8
6 Means of minimizing infill migration . 8
6.1 General . 8
6.2 Types of synthetic turf surface . 8
6.3 Field design . 9
7 Installation of infill . 12
8 Field maintenance . 12
9 Snow clearance . 13
10 Changing rooms . 13
11 End of life disposal of synthetic turf surfaces . 14
12 Retrofitting existing fields . 14
Annex A (informative) Figures showing typical design details . 15
Bibliography . 21

European foreword
This document (CEN/TR 17519:2020) has been prepared by Technical Committee
CEN/TC 217 “Surfaces for sports areas”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the
subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such
patent rights.
Introduction
General
Synthetic turf sports surfaces provide attractive, hard–wearing and safe playing areas that
can accommodate high levels of use and be used in far more diverse climates than natural
turf. The development of these surfaces has led to significant demand with over 16 000 full
size sports fields now being used in Europe, and approximately 4 000 new fields being built
each year.
Synthetic turf sports surfaces take four generic forms:
— non-filled short pile;
— sand filled or sand dressed short pile;
— long pile with infill (typically rubber and/or sand);
— long pile non-filled.
Infill is applied to the synthetic turf surfaces for three reasons:
— it is used to stabilize the carpet to prevent dimensional expansion and contraction and
movement through use i.e. it acts as a ballast. This type of infill is often described as
stabilizing infill;
— it contributes or provides the sports performance and impact attenuation
characteristics of the sports surface. This type of infill is often described as
performance infill. The performance infill is a key component of the surface as it
provides comfort and protection to players as they run and fall on the surface;
— it helps control the way the ball interacts with the surface, supporting the pile of the
surface so it remains upright.
Short pile synthetic turf surfaces typically have pile heights of between 10 mm and 30 mm
and normally only have one layer of infill. This is often a rounded sand. Sometimes the sand
has a polymeric coating to change the colour of the infill (i.e. it is coloured to match the
synthetic turf colour).
Figure 1 shows the typical cross section of a short pile synthetic turf sports surface.

Key
1 synthetic turf carpet pile, may be curly
2 infill
3 shockpad (optional depending on intended sports use)
4 base (or foundation)
Figure 1 — Typical cross section of short pile synthetic turf surface
Long pile synthetic turf surfaces typically have pile heights of between 30 mm and 60mm.
Most contain two layers of infill, the lower layer (normally sand) is installed to provide
ballast and stability to prevent the synthetic turf carpet moving. The upper layer is the
performance infill.
There are a number of different granulated materials used to form this layer including
various rubbers and thermo-plastics and natural materials such as cork, timber, nut husks,
etc.
Figure 2 shows the typical cross section of a long pile synthetic turf sports surface.

Key
1 synthetic turf carpet pile, might be curly
2 performance infill
3 stabilizing infill
4 shockpad (optional)
5 base (or foundation)
Figure 2 — Typical cross section of long pile synthetic turf surface
Most infills are in the particle size range 0,5 mm to 2,5 mm with some occasionally being
larger.
Environmental concerns
Increasing public concern about microplastics has led the European Commission, to
investigate ways of reducing the quantities released into the environment. They have
defined a microplastic as any solid particle made of a non-biodegradable polymer that is
5,0 mm or less in size. They can be unintentionally formed through wear and tear or
deliberately manufactured and intentionally added to products for a specific purpose.
As many infill materials used within synthetic turf sports surfaces are either made from
non-bio-degradable polymers that are less than 5,0 mm in size, or incorporate some form
granule (e.g. sand) that has a polymeric coating, it is important that the design and
maintenance of sports fields having these infills is undertaken in a way that minimizes the
possibility of the infill migrating from the sports surface and being dispersed into the
environment. This document describes ways of containing infill materials within the
footprint of the synthetic turf field during its construction, operation and end of life
removal.
1 Scope
This document describes ways of containing infill materials used in many types of synthetic
turf sports fields within the confines of the sports field, so they are not dispersed into the
surrounding environment.
The options described are based on examples of best practice identified by members of
CEN/TC 217.
This document is intended to be of practical use, to create awareness amongst field
designers, venue owners, installation companies and those maintaining synthetic turf
sports fields. It is applicable for all forms of synthetic turf sports field, from those used for
community activities to those used by professional and elite level athletes.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/ui
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
synthetic turf surfacing system
all components of the surface that influence its sports performance or bio-mechanical
characteristics including the synthetic turf carpet, infill and shockpad
3.2
filled synthetic turf
synthetic turf surface, whose pile is either totally filled or partly filled with an unbound
particulate material
3.3
infill
particulate materials used within the synthetic turf surface to provide support to the carpet
pile and to aid the provision of the required performance characteristics of the surface
3.4
performance infill
granulated materials used to form the upper layer of infill that help provide the required
sports performance and player welfare characteristics of the surface
3.5
polymeric infill
granular infill material formed from non-biodegradable rubbers or plastics, or an infill
material that has a coating formed from non-biodegradable rubbers or plastics (e.g. coated
sand)
3.6
stabilizing infill
particulate materials used to infill the lower portion of the synthetic turf surface to provide
support to the carpet pile and ballast to hold the carpet in place and help prevent
dimensional movement
3.7
shockpads
elastic material placed beneath a synthetic turf sports surface that is designed to aid the
provision of the performance properties of the sports surfacing system
Note 1 to entry: Shockpads are also known as elastic layers.
3.8
stitch rate
number of tufts per square meter, which is a function of the number of stitches per linear
length multiplied by the spacing (gauge) of the tufting needles
3.9
field
playing area including the perimeter margins or run offs
Note 1 to entry: Field is also known as the pitch.
3.10
base
all elements of construction beneath the synthetic turf sports surfacing system
4 Sports performance
The performance of a synthetic turf sports surface is provided by the interactions of the
synthetic turf carpet, the infill materials and, if part of the system, the shockpad.
Occasionally some synthetic turf systems also utilize characteristics of the base
construction to achieve the required performance.
EN 15330-1 specifies the properties required of synthetic turf surfaces used for football,
rugby, hockey, tennis and multi–sports applications. The requirements of EN 15330-1 are
intended to apply to surfaces used for community, educational and recreational sport. For
professional and elite levels of competition, many sports governing bodies have published
their own specifications.
NOTE The requirements of the sports’ governing bodies differ from those detailed in
EN 15330-1 and facility developers are advised to ensure that they select surfaces offering the
correct performance for the level of competition to be played on the field.
5 Infill migration routes
Experience has shown that infill materials can be transported from a synthetic turf field by
a number of different actions including:
— being carried by players (caught in and stuck on clothing and footwear);
— snow removal;
— being carried by maintenance equipment;
— inappropriate maintenance procedures;
— inappropriate installation procedures;
— poor storage of spare material;
— surface water run–off from the field;
— wind dispersion.
6 Means of minimizing infill migration
6.1 General
By incorporating appropriate design features into a synthetic turf sports field and
undertaking its construction, operational maintenance and end-of-life removal in
environmentally sensitive ways the risk of infill being dispersed from within the field to the
surrounding environment can be minimized.
The following clauses describe examples of good practice that have been shown to be
effective in ensuring infills are not dispersed into the surrounding environment. Many of
these design features work best when used in collectively and it should not be assumed that
only incorporating one feature will achieve the desired containment.
6.2 Types of synthetic turf surface
6.2.1 Carpet design
The tuft density (expressed as the number of tufts per square meter) of the synthetic turf
carpet can greatly influence the mobility of the infill. Experience shows the more mobile
the infill is, the greater the likelihood of it being dispersed to the environment around the
field. Carpets that have lower tuft densities will generally allow greater infill movement and
so the potential for infill dispersion is greater. When selecting a synthetic turf surface for a
specific field, choosing one that offers the desired sporting qualities and has a high tuft
density (for the intended use), will help reduce the potential of infill movement and loss
into the surrounding environment.
Some long pile synthetic turf carpets contain a lower layer of curly tufts (often called a
thatch zone), that is designed to stabilize the infill and so reduces the potential for
movement and migration.
Other forms of synthetic turf carpet use texturized or curled yarns to form the main carpet
pile, and these are also designed to stabilize the infill, which they do quite effectively, but
possibly to the detriment of controlling the ball speed, meaning they are possibly better
suited to areas being used for recreational and small sided football, where the need to
replicate a natural grass field is less important.
The performance standards published by FIFA and World Rugby for synthetic turf football
and rugby surfaces, contains an Infill Splash Test. This measures how much infill is lifted
from the surface when a ball strikes it. Products having Infill Splash Values of less than 1,5 %
are designated ‘low splash’ and will therefore offer better containment of the infill.
6.2.2 Shockpads
Many long pile synthetic turf surfaces used for sports such as football are often based on
carpets having pile lengths of between 50 mm and 60 mm. These are laid directly onto the
base of the field and are partly filled with a combination of stabilizing infill and performance
infill. As the ball rebound and player welfare properties of these surfaces are provided by
the performance infill it forms a significant proportion of the infill depth.
Alternative surfacing systems incorporate shockpads, these obtain some, if not most, of
their impact attenuation properties from the shockpad, meaning they can have lower pile
heights and lower quantities of performance infill. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the
reduced infill quantities result in surfaces that are less likely to suffer from infill migration.
It is recommended that if a shockpad is being used within a synthetic turf surfacing system
it complies with prEN 15330-4. This document specifies minimum performance and
durability requirements for shockpads.
NOTE 2 Some forms of synthetic turf tennis surfaces incorporate coated sand infills. Generally,
shockpads are not used with surfaces intended for tennis due to the need for the tennis ball to bounce
reasonably high.
6.2.3 Infill
6.2.3.1 Infill shape
Infill materials are produced in a number of different shapes. Those that are more round
will allow faster surface water drainage and are less inclined to compact through use but
are far more mobile meaning the risk of dispersion within a field and into the surrounding
environment is higher. Infills that are more angular in shape with interlock providing a
more stable playing surface that is less mobile.
6.2.3.2 Infill dust control
To minimize the potential of fine particulates being released from the infill, the dust
content, when measured in accordance with EN 15051-1, should be classified as ‘Very Low’
or ‘Low’.
6.3 Field design
6.3.1 Field profile
Synthetic turf fields are often built with slo
...