Fet municipality takes action to prevent 10 tonnes of rubber granules from flowing into Glomma every year.

Fet Il artificial turf, Fedrelandet Sportspark, was built before it was required for snowdrop. Such a layer will ensure that rubber granulates from the course do not end up in the environment around the track but can be returned to the track when the snow melts. Now Fet municipality takes thanks and makes sure that this course also gets landfill.

“It’s important to do what we can to save the environment. Through the snowdrop we can also save money on the operation of the. Refilling the plastic granules is a huge expense, which we saves when we can collect granules from the snow, says the general manager of Fet Il, Atle Søgård.

Fedrelandet Sportspark, located idyllically to where Glomma flowea into the lake Øyeren. The nearest neighbor in the south is the Nordre Øyeren Nature Reserve. One of the largest inland wetland reserve in the Nordic region, with great importance to a variety of bird species.

“Here are the good reasons to stop the leak of rubber into nature,” says Simen Skotvedt, project and construction manager at HRP.

He says that today there are about 1 750 artificial turf in Norway and that there are large amounts of the small black plastic bullets that disappear from them every year. From Fedrelandet alone, around 10 tonnes a year disappear.

“Such granules are considered micro-plastic and can contain undesirable substances, including zinc and is harmful if it comes into the environment. According to a report from the Center for Sports Facilities and Technology (SIAT) at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). And of course, it usually disappears from the paths on which it is winter drift.

The rubber granulate will be with the snow that is costing the course. Of winter running lanes, 43% have no snowdrop that collects granules. A landfill can prevent almost all pollution to the environment and the need for replenishment.

Next spring, almost all flow of rubber granulate into Glomma will be history. It will be paved an area where the snow will be laid, and a wall will be built to prevent drainage from the landfill and into Glomma, “says Simen Skotvedt.

 

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