SYNLawn Debuts Green Fan Mile to Celebrate EURO 2024

DALTON, Ga., June 18, 2024 (Newswire.com) - SYNLawn, a leading global manufacturer and innovator of sustainable artificial turf, debuted the largest soccer fan zone in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. The green Fan Mile was installed to celebrate the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2024) and its festival of events. From now until July 14, when fans from all over the world visit Berlin's biggest party zone, they will be socializing and watching the publicly televised games on a SYNLawn artificial turf lawn. 

“We’re delighted to be part of this year’s European Championship with our turf,” said Wolfgang Beck, Business Unit Manager of SYNLawn Europe. “Together with our sister company Polytan, we’ve laid a total of 24,000 square meters of artificial turf in the middle of Berlin since the beginning of May. The Fan Mile we installed is located by the Brandenburg Gate, Straße des 17. Juni and Platz der Republik. A project of this size, and with this level of media attention, isn’t commonplace. It’s a unique opportunity for our young business segment.” 

The concept behind the project is just as rare: the turf will be given a second life after the European Championships. It will replace aging artificial turf on mini pitches and be donated to organizations or facilities such as daycare centers, kindergartens and schools in Berlin. This sustainable solution was one of the tender conditions of UEFA and the City of Berlin. The turf itself is largely made from bio-based materials and recycled plastic. 

"Our sustainable product strategy and Host City Berlin's sustainability program were a very good fit from the very beginning,” emphasizes Beck. "The result is a showcase for what is possible with our products. It also highlights the highly professional cooperation between the organizer and the entire SYNLawn Berlin project team led by Jan Lauterbach.” 

In order for the artificial turf to meet this uncommon reuse challenge, the two Sport Group subsidiaries, SYNLawn and Polytan, a market leader in artificial turf sports pitches, have pooled their expertise and developed the turf specifically for this special project. 

The logistics and installation process were also masterfully organized. Each roll was delivered to exactly where it was needed on the approximately seven soccer pitches. Thresholds made from recycled turf were used to level out any unevenness to allow wheelchairs and strollers to navigate the Fan Mile without accessibility barriers. They come from FormaTurf, a recycling specialist for artificial turf. 

It was clear to the developers from the outset that the turf had to meet special requirements. For example, and this is unusual for an artificial turf, it had to withstand the high loads caused by delivery traffic and emergency vehicles while providing the authentic feel of a soccer pitch to hundreds of thousands of fans. It also needed to serve as a recreational space for at least another 10 years after removal and reinstallation. Thanks to a patented turf construction, the turf has a particularly natural look in addition to its extreme robustness that blends in beautifully with the area in the middle of Berlin's Tiergarten. 

"Equipping the Fan Mile makes us proud as a company, especially since we’ve managed to combine a highly functional turf with a unique sustainability strategy,” said George Neagle, President of SYNLawn Global. “We’ve created a high-tech product that people will enjoy for many years to come after the European Championships.” 

SYNLawn is a subsidiary of Sport Group, owner of the world's leading brands for sports and leisure surfaces. Visit www.synlawn.com to learn more about SYNLawn and its sustainable artificial turf products.

About SYNLawn^®

For more than 20 years, SYNLawn^® has led the industry as the largest manufacturer and unrivaled innovator of artificial grass and synthetic surfacing in North America. As part of the Sport Group Holding^® family of companies, SYNLawn, along with sister surfacing brands - AstroTurf^®, Rekortan^®, Qualideck^® and Laykold^® - delivers the best products available on the market. SYNLawn's product offerings also include Calico Greens™, an upscale line of artificial wall displays. SYNLawn's turnkey network of over 120 distributors seamlessly combines environmental stewardship with industry-leading innovations. SYNLawn uses bio-based ingredients, such as soy and sugarcane, and consumer-conscious additives, such as antimicrobials, to meet customers' wide range of needs. With more than 300,000 residential and commercial installations, the company is raising the bar for global synthetic turf standards and transforming the idea of grass. We have a proprietary system with a large percentage of renewable content. From rooftops to road medians and rocket-launch viewing sites, SYNLawn has installed over 150 million square feet of U.S. soy-backed grass across 300,000 installations in the United States of America and over 20 other countries since 2008. SYNLawn added more soy than ever to its products in 2021, which increased its use of U.S. soy by 10%. For more information, visit www.SYNLawn.com and follow us on Facebook.

About FormaTurf GmbH:

FormaTurf was founded by Sport Group, a company that specializes in sports surfaces and offers sports surfaces in over 70 countries. Headquartered in Burgheim, Germany, Sport Group includes Polytan, AstroTurf and Melos. The FormaTurf facility in Essen provides a state-of-the-art, sustainable recycling solution that meets all German environmental standards. Learn more at www.formaturf.com.

About Polytan:

Providing the optimal surface for athletic success – Polytan has pursued this aim with its sports flooring and artificial turf systems since 1969. And the bonus is that sustainability and environmental compatibility have always been a priority for us here at Polytan. The spectrum ranges from environmentally friendly raw materials and energy conservation during the manufacturing processes to the recycling of the surfaces. In line with its motto of “We make sport greener,” Polytan is continuously and effectively improving the future of sports flooring. Polytan’s Green Technology line (GT) is the result of years of research and signals a new generation of state-of-the-art products and processes that combine specialized expertise with the functional and ecological benefits of renewable raw materials and resource-saving technologies. 

Polytan’s portfolio is built for disciplines such as football, hockey, rugby, American football, athletics, tennis and multisports, and even offers fall protection. As well as developing, manufacturing and installing sports surfaces, Polytan also offers line painting, repair, cleaning and maintenance as part of its range of services. Polytan provides the largest sports surface installation network in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. All products comply with the current national and international standards, and have all the relevant certifications of international sporting associations, such as FIFA, FIH, World Rugby and World Athletics. Find more information at: www.polytan.com.

Source: SYNLawn