Recycle company’s bankruptcy leaves tons of discarded artificial turf across the state

The turf, laden with forever chemicals, now faces an uncertain future.

by Barbara Laker and David Gambacorta
Published Sept. 30, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET

It was supposed to be Pennsylvania’s Green Dream.

Re-Match, a Denmark-based recycling company, had planned to open what it said would be the first artificial turf recycling facility in the United States — in a Schuylkill County factory by the end of 2024.

Environmentalists were overjoyed. Lab tests have shown that artificial turf has for decades contained PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The so-called forever chemicals — which are found in an array of products, including firefighting gear and nonstick cookware — don’t break down in the environment and have been linked by the EPA to cancer, asthma, thyroid disease, and decreased immunity to fight infections.
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But Re-Match’s recycling dream will never be realized in Pennsylvania and as a result, tons of chemical-laden turf pose an ongoing environmental threat with no easy solution.

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