Feature	Conventional Infill Turf	Designed-for-Recycling Non-Infill Turf
Loose infill	Usually present	None
Material structure	Often multi-material	Can be designed around more compatible materials
End-of-life processing	May require infill removal and separation	Potentially simpler pre-processing
Adhesive/coating	May contain latex, PU or other materials	Can be designed to reduce material incompatibility
Mechanical recycling potential	Depends strongly on construction	Potentially more favorable
Actual recycling rate	Project-dependent	Project- and system-dependent
End-of-life route	Recycling, recovery or disposal depending on system	Recycling can be incorporated into product design

The important phrase here is “designed-for-recycling.”

A turf product should not be considered recyclable simply because it is advertised as non-infill.

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5. What Happens to Artificial Turf After It Is Recycled?

A typical mechanical recycling route may look like this:

Step 1 — Remove the old turf

The field is cut into manageable sections and transported to a recycling facility.

Step 2 — Clean and prepare the material

Remaining soil, organic matter and other contaminants are removed as far as practical.

Step 3 — Shred the turf

The turf is mechanically reduced into smaller pieces.

Step 4 — Process and separate

Depending on the product construction, different separation or material-processing techniques may be used.

Step 5 — Pelletize or compound

Suitable polymer fractions can be processed into recycled pellets or compounds.

Step 6 — Manufacture new products

The recycled material can potentially become a component of another artificial turf system or other plastic products.

This creates a potential circular pathway:

Raw materials → Turf manufacturing → Field installation → Use → Collection → Recycling → Recycled material → New products

However, not every old turf system can complete every stage economically.