The Cyclyx Intl. plastic-feedstock management consortium continues to grow, most recently with the addition of TenCate Grass, a Netherlands-based manufacturer, distributor, and installer of synthetic turf for sports and landscaping applications.

Cyclyx works with partners throughout the supply chain to develop recycling solutions for a variety of plastics, diverting post-use plastics from waste streams for use as advanced-recycling feedstocks. The group’s mission is to increase the recyclability of plastic from 10% to 90%.

“Our expertise in the chemistry of waste plastics [enables] us to find circular pathways for nontraditional plastic like TenCate Grass’ custom turf materials, ensuring that the plastic in their products finds a second life in the creation of new products,” Joe Vaillancourt, CEO of Cyclyx, tells PlasticsToday.

The vast majority of TenCate’s synthetic turf is polyethylene, with a small amount of turf being made from polypropylene. The company also occasionally makes turf from nylon fibers, for specialty projects and applications. 

TenCate takes a comprehensive approach to boosting product sustainability, including investing in infrastructure to collect, process, harvest, and reuse materials from its products at end of life. The company also designs its synthetic-turf products for recycling.

TenCate's facility in Dayton, TN.

In the Netherlands, TenCate currently recycles its end-of-life turf into Ecocept, an elastic layer used to create sports fields. Membership in Cyclyx will help TenCate find ways to replicate its turf recycling success worldwide.

“Cyclyx is very excited to work with TenCate on creating circular pathways for their custom artificial turfs. When most people think of waste plastics, they think about the plastics they have in their homes such as films, takeout containers, and other types of plastics that we all use daily,” Vaillancourt says. “But in the world there are so many larger, nontraditional applications for plastics that get overlooked, such as artificial turf.”

“In working with TenCate Grass, we will be able to affect change on a larger scale by taking in a huge volume of material that we can then process and direct into effective recycling pathways, turning what was once thought of as waste into a valuable resource for the creation of new products,” Vaillancourt adds.

In the past several months, several industrial and consumer-facing companies have joined the Cyclyx consortium, including Suncast (See Cyclyx Consortium Gains Suncast as New Member, published March 2022); Velcro Companies; Advanced Drainage Systems; and Sealed Air.

Cyclyx was launched by Agilyx in 2020. Agilyx Group headquarters are in Portsmouth, NH, and operational activities are in Oregon and Switzerland.