20/10/2026
Sport brings people together regularly and globally. This provides a unique opportunity for sport to drive sustainability goals and encourage a sustainable culture.
However, sport faces a particularly delicate balance between high-performance and sustainability. This challenge drives innovation, with new technologies and materials being developed to improve performance at the same time as reducing environmental impact. Protecting these innovations through patents is often essential.
Sporting organisations play a key role in setting regulations and ensuring that competition environments are as sustainable as possible.
The UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework calls on organisations to halve emissions by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2040. Major sporting bodies, including Formula 1, FIFA and World Athletics, are signatories to the framework.
Some organisations, such as World Athletes, have set an even more ambitious targets, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030.[1]
So, what does all of this mean for the places where sport actually happens?
On TRACK towards a sustainable future
Running tracks have evolved from grass, cinder and sand into highly engineered performance surfaces. Modern tracks use rubber to absorb the impact of a runner’s foot strike while returning energy to the athlete, helping improve reactivity and reducing the effort required to reach high speeds.
However, rubber can have a significant and negative impact on the environment as it can be difficult to recycle, can rely on fossil-derived feedstocks and can ultimately become waste when a surface reaches the end of its useful life.
This has driven innovators to create world-class tracks that deliver high performance with a lower environmental footprint.
One example of this innovation is Rekortan’s Gel technology[2].
The Rekortan Gel Series is designed as a more sustainable approach to running-track construction, incorporating plant-based oils into its gel layer. According to Rekortan, the gel contains 84% renewable and recyclable content and is manufactured using an enzyme process designed to require very little electricity. Rekortan also states that its Gel tracks retain more than 95% of their force reduction over ten years.
This technology has been patented across Europe and the US under the applicant Advanced Polymer Technology Corp. Specifically, Rekortan’s track is protected in Europe by patent EP 3342930 B1, which describes a polyurethane gel layer containing vegetable oil liquid plasticiser.
Rekortan isn’t the only example of a high-performance, highly sustainable running track.
Mondo’s MONDOTRACK™ Ellipse Impulse athletics track, used for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, takes a different approach to reducing the environmental impact of a high-performance track.
The MONDOTRACK™ technology is protected in Europe by patent application EP24171874.1 which describes the design of a new elliptical geometry for the subbase of the prefabricated track surface.
The new, more environmentally friendly, formulation incorporates up to 50% recycled and/or renewable ingredients by weight, including natural rubber and calcium carbonate derived from recycled seashells.
Let’s PITCH another sustainable idea
Running tracks aren’t the only sports surfaces which need to become more sustainable.
Think about the enormous areas of turf sitting in the middle of football stadiums, training grounds and other sporting venues.
Natural grass has obvious environmental challenges, particularly around water consumption, fertilisers, pesticides and maintenance. Artificial turf brings a different set of issues as they can contain fossil-based polymers and rubber infill. Over time, these materials can contribute to persistent microplastic pollution. And when an artificial pitch reaches the end of its useful life, dealing with the combination of plastics, fibres, backing materials and infill can be difficult.
So, what are the alternatives?
One approach is to make natural pitches more resilient. Selecting drought-tolerant grass species and improving irrigation and maintenance practices can reduce water demand while maintaining playing quality. In this case, it might be beneficial to explore the protection of new plant varieties, for example by plant variety rights in the UK.
Another alternative is to rethink the materials used in artificial turf.
Cork, sand, natural rubber and other alternative infills can provide different routes away from conventional fossil-based materials. Hybrid systems can also reduce the amount of plastic required.
For example, BIQ Materials has developed a patented biodegradable infill technology (BIQ400) for artificial turf (EP 4294984 B1), which comprises polybutylene adipate terephthalate.
Keep the WHEELS turning
But what about cycling tracks?
Traditionally, indoor velodromes are constructed using Siberian larch, however recently Accoya® wood has been used as a more sustainable, high-performance alternative.
Produced through a proprietary acetylation process, Accoya® offers exceptional durability and dimensional stability, even in demanding environments, whilst also being non-toxic and made from fast growing tree species. Accoya® therefore provides a reliable and sustainable solution for the velodrome.
Stadiums – The home advantage
Finally, the tracks and pitches may be on their way to becoming sustainable, but what about the stadiums?
Stadiums can improve sustainability across every stage of their lifecycle, from construction and material choices to energy use and game-day operations.
Some examples of sustainable stadium initiatives are listed below.
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta: Diverts more than 90% of waste from landfill through recycling and composting programmes. Uses solar panels to generate 1.6 million kWh of renewable energy annually, which is enough energy to power nine Atlanta Falcons games. The stadium also has zero-waste and reusable-cup schemes, alongside an urban garden.[3]
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: Uses over 9,000 precast concrete elements containing 36% GGBS, reducing reliance on Portland cement. Efficient structural design also minimizes material use.[4]
- Auckland: Collects and treats rainwater for pitch irrigation, saving up to 16 million litres of water annually. The stadium also supports on-site beehives, improving biodiversity. [5]
- Allianz Stadium: Reused large quantities of concrete, steel, glass and aluminium from the original stadium, reducing demand for new materials. [6]
- Forest Green Rovers: Whilst this has not actually been built yet, there are plans to use timber as the primary structural material, significantly reducing the stadium’s carbon footprint.[7]
Overall, innovation is transforming the materials used across sports tracks, pitches and stadiums, helping the industry reduce its environmental impact without compromising performance. With ambitious targets to achieve net zero by 2040, the drive towards more sustainable materials and technologies is only accelerating. Patents will play an important role in protecting these innovations and encouraging further investment and development. The race to a more sustainable future is on.
This content is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
[1] World Athletics makes commitment to a cleaner, greener, more equitable world | News | Athletics Better World | World Athletics
[2] Gel series tracks — Rekortan Tracks
[3] What are the World’s Most Sustainable Sports Stadiums? | Sustainability Magazine
[4] Tottenham Hotspur Football Stadium – Ecocem
[5] What are the World’s Most Sustainable Sports Stadiums? | Sustainability Magazine
[6] What are the World’s Most Sustainable Sports Stadiums? | Sustainability Magazine
