The small knobs you find on many football pitches, which are rubber granules, have been decided by the EU to be prohibited for use on artificial grass pitches. But it is still allowed to use it for the next eight years, during a transitional period. TIL replaced its old pitch last year, but reckoned that the old one was still good enough for other football pitches in the city. Therefore they wanted to give them away. But the municipality says no. That is why it is now in the car park. Øyvind Alapnes, general manager of TIL, believes that there are no other alternatives to granules in Northern Norway. Photo: Aslaug Aarsæther / news – The public authorities did not want that type of granulate to be given to others, so we have not been able to do anything with the artificial turf, says general manager of Tromsø IL, Øyvind Alapnes. TIL is working to collect tenders for the work to have the old artificial grass pitch removed from the car park. They assume that it could cost over a million, according to Alapnes. Photo: Aslaug Aarsæther / news Discussing what to do with the pitches – Artificial grass with rubber granules is problematic. So says Håkon Waage Gjertsen, acting unit manager for parks, sports and outdoor activities in Tromsø municipality. Rubber granules are among the biggest sources of the spread of microplastics, the Norwegian Environment Agency has stated. All over the country, clubs are looking for an alternative to the environmental disaster. Håkon Waage Gjertsen, acting unit manager for parks, sports and open air in Tromsø municipality, says they have previously taken measures to stop the spread of granules on other courses. Photo: Aslaug Aarsæther / news The EU ban is the reason why the municipality will not reuse the artificial grass for TIL as they have done in the past, says Waage Gjertsen in Tromsø municipality. – We are having an internal discussion about what we are going to do in the municipality with our lanes, and how we are going to handle this situation going forward, says Waage Gjertsen. Granulate at Romssa arena – Spreading microplastics Bjørn Aas, project manager for the NTNU project Artificial Grass 2021, estimates that the old artificial grass track at Tromsø IL consists of close to 100 tonnes of plastic-containing material. He is certain that the way it has been stored has led to the spread of microplastics. – This means that in the event of rainfall, and throughout the winter, some rubber granules will flow out. But what is perhaps worse is that the fine matter, the smallest rubber particles, will easily be washed out of that thicket, go out with the surface water and continue into nature. Bjørn Aas, project manager for Artificial Turf 2021 Photo: Trond Odin Myhre Johansen / news – Must create better security facilities The municipality could use the artificial grass for TIL in the next few years, but wants to wait with a decision until they see what is being done at national level. – We await the situation and do not want to take over a problem from TIL and other teams that have pitches in Tromsø. The new artificial grass pitch at TIL has the same type of granules as it is at other elite series arenas. According to Alapnes, it is better to play on, and more environmentally friendly, compared to the previous type of granules that they had on the old artificial turf pitch. – But it’s not good when it goes out of bounds. Everyone understands that, says Alapnes. – As of now, we have to use the type of granules we have here, but we have to create better security facilities, so that granules do not disappear from the track.
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Tromsø IL’s Romssa arena is full of granules in the car park – news Troms and Finnmark
