Advanced Sports Installations Europe successfully entered the German market

Estonian company Advanced Sports Installations Europe AS, who is one of the pioneering companies in Europe specializing in the installation and maintenance of artificial turf, has entered the German market and successfully completed their first projects. The company has established good contacts with many Bundesliga football clubs and will be presented at FSB sports trade fair in Cologne 7−10 November 2017 (Hall 10.2 Stand 059).

Advanced Sports Installations Europe AS was founded in 1992 and is based 100% on Estonian capital. In 25 years the company has built over 1100 football pitches in Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Central Europe and doesn´t stop there.

A new way of thinking in the construction of football pitches

We have been laying artificial turf pitches all over Europe for a quarter of a century by now. There was a moment when we realized that perfecting the quality and our work processes was necessary but by no means sufficient: we needed a new way of thinking, which came to life in the form of an operating lease for sports infrastructures and circular economy in the construction of football pitches. The former guarantees that top clubs always have new pitch turf, and the latter ensures the availability of training facilities all year round in smaller locations, where new football legends can be born.

Operating lease for football pitches

Advanced Sports Installations Europe is known as the only company offering an operating lease for artificial turf sports fields. This principle is similar to the operating lease of vehicles or IT equipment, which has become the predominant method of acquiring such items.

The lease model will spare a football club or local government the inconvenience of making a major investment, because the price of the artificial turf pitch including maintenance is divided into equal monthly instalments. Moreover, as a rule, the turf will be replaced every 5–6 years without the sports field owner having to cover any additional costs. The players will be able to train on top-quality artificial turf all the time and polish their football skills under the best conditions possible.

Circular economy gives a new life to used artificial turf

What happens to old turf? No, it is not taken to a landfill: the world’s only ARENA Concept gives new life to used artificial turf. The advantage of the recycling technology developed by our company is that we can extract almost all of the filling from the old artificial turf pitch. The components of removable artificial turf are sorted, cleaned, dried, and used on the same football pitch, which implies a significant reduction in the pitch owner’s expenses.

As the entire replacement process is performed on the site of the football pitch, the carbon footprint is also several times lower than before, due to the minimized transportation needs. We will be able to reuse most of the used artificial turf on training grounds or school football pitches, for example, which will be much cheaper than what other suppliers can offer and much more environmentally friendly. The last stage of circular economy is the artificial turf recycling plant, which turns unusable, badly worn artificial turf into plastic granules, which are a valuable raw material for the plastics industry.

We emphasize environmental safety

On the surface, recycling and environmental safety might seem far-fetched in the context of football pitches. However, the replacement of one full-sized football pitch entails the reprocessing of 250–3000 tonnes of various materials. Simple multiplication shows that the replacement of artificial turf pitches in the European Union generates 600,000 tonnes of mixed rubber, sand, and plastic waste per year, and by 2030 this amount will have increased to 3 million tonnes.

As our ARENA Concept allows the components of the removed artificial turf to be reused on football pitches, this will prevent the generation of a million tonnes of mixed waste per year. Broadly speaking, this equals the quantity of waste generated by the entire country of Norway in a month. This is why finding ways to reuse artificial turf pitches – which we are doing with the support of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 – is also important for the achievement of global environmental goals.

Advanced Sports Installations Europe:

• In 25 years we have built over 1100 football pitches in Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Central Europe.
• We install around a million square metres of artificial turf annually.
• Our goal is to reach the benchmark of 4.5 million square metres.
• We have received innovation support from the European Union Programme Horizon 2020 on two occasions.
• We are not restricted to any single manufacturer and can therefore offer clients unbiased advice in choosing the best service for them.
• We work closely with architects, local authorities, and educational establishments to provide high-quality solutions that meet every need.

 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation –SME Instrument programme under grant agreement No 726618