Artificial Turf & Grass – recycleable adhesive coating

Coatings of artificial grass are often made with Styrene Butadiene (SB, SBR, XSBR) or Polyurethane (PU) binders. These binders are often both not thermoplastic and not solluble, whichis making recycling of artificial grass more complicated.

VAE is already widely used in carpets

VAE is already in use for years in carpet applications like tufted broadloam, wovens, felt and carpettiles. Mostly because of offering better flame retardancy and lower VOC also other advantages are acknowledged by VAE carpet users. (EG low odour, which is inline with LOW VOC.

Mechanical recycling

VAE can also support Circular artificial grass solutions on for examples gardens, terraces and balconies. VAE might not be the same family on first sight with polymers like polyethylene, polypropylene, and nylon, but VAE is practically compatible when used in mechanical recycling, depending on the specific assembly compositions of the artificial grass.

Sustainable solutions

New VAE based back coatings can make carpets, rugs and mats recyclable. Not only that, but by the biomass balance concept, also partially biobased VAE is already available. VAE can contribute to a solution to the current environmental and raw materials challenges. VAE can be seen as an innovative chemical being a copolymer of VinylAcetate and Ethylene. VAE is part of many future-proof solutions like insulation materials, paper applications and ETICS. VAE can contribute to sustainable alternatives to polymers like Styrene-Acrylates and Styrene Butadien. Therewith VAE can support carpet backing (back coating) for e.g. polyester carpets, which are made completely of polyester. Carpets made from one material (mono-carpet, single material), it can be reused more easily in mechanical recycling. If the carpet backing must be made of a different material, VAE can be used with sollubles to seperate materials. This means that the carpet is still recyclable at the end of life. Tech-textiles with this VAE technology, Carpet manufacturers can use a back coating for carpet, rugs and mats of various types that provide materials the desired properties for the carpet and also the conventional recyclability.