BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – The European Commission suspects companies in the artificial turf industry of having made anti-competitive agreements on the markets in Germany and the Netherlands. A Dutch and a German company are said to have jointly determined price elements for the recycling of systems and exchanged confidential information about prices and production capacities, as the responsible authority in Brussels announced.
The outcome of the proceedings has not yet been decided upon notification of the allegations. The affected companies now have the right to comment. According to the announcement, if they violate EU antitrust law, they could face fines of up to ten percent of their global annual turnover.
The Commission had already carried out unannounced searches at artificial turf companies in several EU member states in June 2023. The allegations now made relate to a period between 2020 and 2023.
Artificial grass surfaces for sports and play areas are typically used for football and hockey pitches. The costs for disposing of the old covering are a significant factor. The idea behind recycling is that old artificial turf does not end up as waste, but can be used again as a new product./vni/DP/stw