KEEP IT REAL—NO SYNTHETIC TURF!
Synthetic turf is bad for our health and bad for the environment. Concerningly, the rate of synthetic turf replacing natural turf sports fields is on the rise in NSW.
These dangerous surfaces are often turned to by councils and sporting clubs as a shortsighted solution for suboptimally maintained natural turf.
Best practice natural turf design and management can support just as much usage as synthetic turf - but councils and clubs need more support from the state government to be able to implement it, so we don’t have as many wet matches cancelled in winter!
So what's the issue with synthetic?
1. It’s dangerously hot
The NSW Chief Scientist found synthetic turf can be up to 38 degrees hotter than natural grass, while Western Sydney University professor Sebastian Pfautsch has recorded plastic turf temperatures in excess of 100 degrees! This means athletes, and especially kids, are at risk of burns and heat stress. This is why expert guidelines for the installation of synthetic turf recommend it should be shaded, but entire football fields of plastic grass keep being installed without any shade!
Synthetic turf increases the risk of adjacent buildings igniting in a bushfire. Knowing that, it is horrifying that several schools in the Blue Mountains have synthetic turf surfaces. Even worse, the full extent of those risks is not known, with the Chief Scientist making a key recommendation for further research into the chemical composition of materials used in synthetic turf as well as better data collection.
2. It’s polluting
Synthetic turf is a non-absorbent surface that disrupts the ecological functions of soil and increases runoff, spreading rubber, plastic, and microplastics and leaching chemicals that harm soil and water.
According to the UTS Institute for Sustainable Future, the 200 synthetic sports fields across NSW generate an estimated 252 tonnes of plastic waste every year!
3. It’s expensive
Companies that profit from producing and installing synthetic turf tout it as cost-effective. But councils have faced staggering cost blow-outs, like Ku-ring-gai Council who initially allocated $3.3 million to a single field now costing ratepayers an astonishing $12.4 million.
At Chatswood High School, the artificial turf surface deteriorated after just one year of use, leaving fragments scattered across the basketball court and nearby streets and chunks of plastic turf coming home on kids’ boots.
What are the Greens doing about it?
My motion calling on the government to support and facilitate local councils and clubs to improve design and maintenance of natural turf passed the Parliament in September 2024! |
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In 2024, the Greens made a submission to the draft Synthetic Turf in Public Open Space Guidelines, outlining our concerns about the dangerous expansion of synthetic turf surfaces in NSW. You can read that submission here.
I've been persistently asking the government about the risks to kids posed by synthetic turf installations at schools across the state. In response, the Department of Education has acknowledged those risks and that it doesn’t have good information on where there is synthetic turf at schools and whether its own guidelines are being followed. They are now starting to assess the extent of synthetic installations at schools. Understanding the scale of the problem is a critical step towards fixing it!
Both the Chief Scientist's report and the NSW government's Synthetic Turf in Public Open Space – Guidelines for Decision-Makers acknowledge knowledge gaps regarding impacts on human and environmental health. While further research is needed and welcome, the Greens believe that there should be a moratorium on approvals and funding for synthetic turf installation in public open spaces while this research is undertaken.
So far, the NSW government has refused to prevent synthetic turf installations - at a minimum, they should mandate community consultation during the planning and design stage of synthetic turf installations, require that synthetic turf be shaded to reduce heat risks, and prohibit the installation of synthetic turf in bushfire zones.