Mountains of Discarded PA Synthetic Turf Being Landfilled

Bethany Rodgers
USA TODAY NETWORK
Feb. 2, 2026, 4:55 a.m. ET

​Key points

• A Danish company's plan to build an artificial turf recycling plant in Pennsylvania has failed due to bankruptcy.
• The state is now responsible for cleaning up thousands of tons of abandoned turf stockpiled across three counties.
• The abandoned turf, which may contain "forever chemicals," will now be sent to a landfill instead of being recycled.

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Five years ago, a Danish company announced it was taking abroad its mission to save artificial athletic fields from the trash heap, rolling out an ambitious plan to build its first North American recycling plant in Pennsylvania. 

Officials in the commonwealth welcomed it with open arms and economic perks, celebrating the project as a job creator and a more sustainable way to deal with the spent plastic fields.
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But after years of hiccups and delays, the transatlantic effort by recycling company Re-Match has crumbled under financial pressures, leaving behind a trail of debts and mounds of green, waterlogged turf that will end up in the landfill after all.

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