The European Commission suspects several suppliers of synthetic turf systems for sports pitches of entering anti-competitive agreements in Germany and the Netherlands. The companies concerned are Sport Group (Germany), Oranjewoud (Netherlands), TenCate Grass (Netherlands) and Sports & Leisure Group (Belgium). According to a statement issued by the Commission last week, the companies are alleged to have fixed elements of the pricing for recycling end-of-life artificial turf and exchanged confidential information on prices and production capacities.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition has now issued a statement of objections to the companies, to which they have the right to respond. The EU's competition watchdog stresses that notification of the allegations does not prejudge the outcome of the proceedings. Infringements of EU competition law can result in fines of up to 10 per cent of a company’s worldwide annual turnover, according to the Commission.
The EU authority had already carried out unannounced inspections at artificial turf companies in several EU member states in June 2023. The allegations now raised concern the period between 2020 and 2023.
Recycling allegedly carried out exclusively through GBN-AGR
According to the Commission, it is investigating a preliminary suspicion that Oranjewoud, TenCate Grass and Sports & Leisure Group coordinated their market behaviour in the Netherlands after the recycling company GBN-AGR was founded in 2019. The company, renamed AGR in December 2024, was originally an Oranjewoud subsidiary in which TenCate and Sports & Leisure Group acquired minority stakes.
The Commission alleges that the companies agreed not to compete with GBN-AGR in recycling activities, to use GBN-AGR exclusively as a recycling service provider, and to structure pricing for these services in such a way as to avoid competition among themselves while disadvantaging third parties. The Commission believes that in so doing their e purpose was to "secure a strong position for GBN‑AGR in the recycling market and monopolise that market over time by excluding competitors".
The three companies are also suspected of seeking to maintain their strong position in the market for the installation and replacement of artificial turf, while excluding competitors from the upstream market for the supply of artificial turf.
In addition, the companies are alleged to have entered into another agreement one year after the establishment of GBN-AGR. According to the Commission, this was aimed at excluding providers of "sustainable disposal services" competing with GBN-AGR’s recycling services and thereby threatening its growth.
The statement of objections was also addressed to Domo Sports Grass Nederland, which was spun off from Sports & Leisure Group in May 2025.
Commission also suspects price agreements in Germany
The Commission is also investigating suspicion that Oranjewoud and Germany-based Sport Group entered into agreements concerning the recycling of sports artificial turf between 2020 and 2023. During this period, Oranjewoud was examining options for expanding GBN-AGR into other member states, including Germany, while Sport Group was developing a recycling solution and establishing its subsidiary FormaTurf, which operates in this field, the EU authority reported.
The Commission suspects that the two companies may have engaged in anti-competitive behaviour during discussions on possible cooperation in the German market. These discussions also reportedly covered a potential cross-purchase of minority stakes in GBN-AGR and FormaTurf, which ultimately did not materialise.
In particular, the Commission is concerned that Oranjewoud and Sport Group may have exchanged confidential and strategic information on current and future prices and production capacities. "This was done without any safeguards in place that would limit the exchange to what could be considered necessary in the context of discussions pertaining to the companies' envisaged cooperation or cross-acquisition", the EU body said.
Furthermore, there are concerns that the two companies also "fixed the main price element for the recycling of end-of-life synthetic turf in Germany" during a subsequent part of these discussions.
The EU authority pointed out that disposal costs for end-of-life artificial turf are an important competitive parameter in tenders for the renewal of sports pitches. In recent years, the industry in the EU has steadily moved away from "highly environmentally harmful disposal methods such as landfill and incineration" towards recycling. Artificial turf recycling is a growing market and is making the sector more circular, according to the Commission.
