By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

DALTON, Ga. — For the past 20 years artificial playing surfaces have put most fields of sod on the sidelines. Artificial surfaces are cheaper to maintain, help prevent athletic injuries and can last a lifetime.

But the byproduct of a popular plant is making its way back into the field – even if those fields are artificial ones. The new AstroTurf product is called GameDay Grass 3D, and the backing for the AstroTurf is soy-based.

“All of our backing AstroTurf uses comes from Universal Textile Technologies (UTT) in Dalton, Georgia,” said Andy Belles, brand manager at AstroTurf. “We take pride in using a product that not only is manufactured here in the U.S. but also grown here, as opposed to using petrochemicals from overseas.”

According to Belles, the backing isn’t just about using fewer petrochemicals, but it offers performance advantages as well.
“The soybean-based backing is a better product,” he explained. “It’s durable, safer to work with than petrochemical products and much more fire retardant. Stadiums and other parks and recreation facilities that use the soy backing can also apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) points.”

Soy plays a crucial role in the performance of the turf. The soy polyurethane backing is unaffected by moisture and can be perforated for enhanced drainage. The turf has low volatile organic compounds.

Soy polymers, like the ones used in turf backing to replace petrochemicals, represent one large potential market for soybeans. According to those at the American Soybean Assoc., this year all of the industrial uses for soybeans will take between an estimated 1.15 billion-1.35 billion pounds of soybean oil, or the oil from nearly 120 million bushels. That’s up from 80 million bushels used in 2006.

The U.S. Soybean Board and the soybean checkoff helped develop soy-based polyols, which were used by UTT in developing its carpet backing system from the start. UTT uses its BioCel and EnviroCel backing on many of its turf products.

“UTT began using soy-based technology on synthetic turf in 2007, with the goal of providing sustainability to the synthetic turf industry before customers demanded it,” said Doug Giles, UTT’s marketing manager.

“Sustainability wasn’t the only attribute, as soy-based backing also performs well. Other advantages include price stability, a reduction of carbon emission and improved air quality, by planting more soybeans with every yard of product sold.”

Soy-based turf backing can be found on more and more sports fields across the country, and the backing is being incorporated into AstroTurf, the choice of most when using artificial surfaces. The soy-based polyurethanes are able to meet federal and state requirements and are environmentally friendly.

From high school to the professional ranks, artificial fields increasingly use soy-based turf backing underneath AstroTurf because of the performance benefits it offers. Many schools already using the backing include Florida State University, Wichita State University, Oregon State University, Stanford University, Duke University and the University of South Carolina. Professional teams include the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills and Toronto Blue Jays.
GameDay Grass 3D utilizes a rubber infill system, composed of highly-durable rubber, extracted from post-consumer recycled tires by certified recyclers from across the United States. This keeps up to 20,000 tires from being placed in landfills. According to GameDay, these materials have been tested and, like the soy-based backing, have been found to pose no health risks.
Extracts from soybean oil are used in many consumer products, including hair care, rubber auto parts, crayons, furniture, waxes, inks, toners, adhesives and many other products.