A new high-performance, 100% biodegradable fiber has been launched to help better manage end-of-life solutions for hybrid sports fields.
Bio-X is a hybrid fiber introduced by SIS Pitches to deliver true circularity for forward-thinking clubs and venues. Its formulation blends different state-of-the-art core components derived from natural sources to create a fiber with the strength, durability and flexibility needed to reinforce high-impact sports fields, while also being designed to biodegrade through industrial decomposition at the end of its natural life.
The formulation of Bio-X has a patent pending and results from the trial of over 80 formulations across seven different countries. The result is a fiber engineered to meet the demands of world class sport, including professional soccer, football, golf, tennis and cricket. Like conventional fossil-based polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene-based hybrid fibres, Bio-X is designed to offer a durable playing surface that recovers quickly from intensive use. The fiber also ensures consistent performance for play but with the standout benefit of being biodegradable.
Each time a hybrid sports field is replaced, several tonnes of plastic fiber are removed from the surface – material that is costly, difficult to process and recycle and often ends up in landfill, where it can remain for decades. SIS Pitches’ Bio X Fiber tackles this problem head on by giving forward thinking clubs and venues a 100% biodegradable alternative that is fully traceable from manufacture to disposal.
Engineered to behave like traditional thermoplastics and certified for industrial composting, Bio-X™ offers a seamless transition to sustainable hybrid fields, with no persistent microplastics remaining after disposal. This is a key advantage for clubs and venues subject to increasingly strict ESG reporting and compliance.
Bio-X is made using a proprietary blend of ingredients derived from corn and sugarcane plant sugars, as well as bacteria, which are converted into high-performance biopolymers, all of which meet the world’s most stringent safety standards, including FDA Food Contact approval. Pigmentation, UV stability and ease of processing are enhanced through the addition of a unique biodegradable masterbatch, which is added to the formulation prior to extrusion through specialized machinery.
Bio-X integrates seamlessly into existing hybrid installation processes, with no extra specialist equipment required. The same applies to ongoing pitch maintenance, which can also be carried out with no change to the established routines applied to polyethylene or polypropylene-based hybrid pitches.
Bio-X fibers can be processed with green waste – without the need to separate – via industrial composting, which is widely available in most major cities and towns. This means Bio-X can lower field disposal costs at the time of replacement while providing a more convenient and more sustainable end-of-life option.
“Environmental sustainability has been central to many of the commitments we make as a business, from reducing our factories’ energy consumption to recycling replacement fields,” said Ivo Lamot, CEO at SIS Pitches. “We’re acutely aware of the role we can play in reducing the impact sport can have on the natural environment too, which is where Bio-X can really make a significant impact.”
Bio-X is currently installed at multiple sporting venues around the world including the San Francisco 49ers training facility and global consultancy STRI’s testing facility in Bingley, West Yorkshire.