German customs stops import of artificial turf from Swiss stadium
Published: Friday, Nov 17th 2023, 12:01
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German authorities have stopped the import of more than 23 tons of contaminated artificial turf from the stadium of a Swiss Super League club. As the relevant import documents were missing, the turf was sent back.
This was announced by the main customs office in Lörrach on Friday. The cargo of the shipment was classified as waste during customs clearance at the German-Swiss border, contrary to what was stated in the accompanying documents. According to the customs authorities, the used artificial turf was to be brought to Germany for recycling.
However, customs officials discovered during an inspection that the material was heavily soiled. In addition, the turf still contained residues of glue, plastic and compacted rubber granulate. Overall, it was therefore no longer suitable for processing and was classified as waste. The import was therefore prohibited by customs on the basis of a decision by the competent authority.
The artificial turf transport from the neighboring country was therefore checked on 20 September. Customs did not provide any further details about the football club whose stadium the material came from. It was a "well-known first division football club", it simply said. An equally unnamed Swiss export company was responsible for the transportation.
For reasons of environmental and health protection, the import and export of private and commercial waste is closely monitored, emphasized customs. There are uniform EU regulations that are supplemented by national requirements.
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