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Interview with Stefan Diderich, new president of the ESTC

05 April 2019 • 0 comments

New European vision for the artificial turf industry

The ESTO (European Synthetic Turf Organization), which due to its integration with the STC becomes ESTC (EMEA Synthetic Turf Council) this year, is a European-wide forum for the synthetic turf industry, offering a wide range of studies, statistics and advice to promote and guarantee the quality of artificial grass and its standardisation. 

 

At Albergrass we are concerned about research and development for the improvement of artificial turf, which is why we are members of the ESTC, an organization that is positioned as the leading European player in the sector. 

 

On June 1st, Stefan Diderich replaced Nigel Fletcher as president of the ESTC; we took advantage of the leadership change to interview Stefan and find out more about the vision of the future he has for the organisation and how he sees the state of the artificial turf industry in Europe. 

Entrevista ESTC

Stefan, tell us a little about yourself, and how your experience has led you to become president of the ESTC.

Since 2014, I have had the pleasure to work in the synthetic turf industry and to meet great people from many different companies and organizations. It is really a people’s business and despite the competitiveness in the industry, people stand up and care for each other when it really matters. 

I have worked for different yarn companies and in that position, got to know many people throughout the supply chain of the synthetic turf industry. At the same time, I have been active in both the ESTO and STC in several committees and other roles. 

When the STC wanted to expand into Europe and the ESTO was looking for a new chairman, I realized that bringing the organizations together would be of the best interest for the industry. With my global experience and activity in both organizations, I seemed to be the natural fit  to help the industry to realize this. 

It seems a logical step to be part of the ESTC after 14 years of experience in the field of artificial turf. What is your vision for the organization in five years?

The ESTC’s vision is to serve as the forum to promote, develop, grow and advocate for the synthetic turf industry. The 2 main objectives are to be the voice of the industry and to bring the industry together at all levels. 

In our strategy, we will have to focus on 4 key elements, or pillars: 

 

  • Education  
  • Marketing 
  • Advocacy 
  • Networking 

 

The most important is that I strongly believe we need to become an industry association focused on creating value for its members, but is also driven by the members. 

Returning to the present and thinking in the short term, what are the main objectives in the new year for the ESTC?

The most important objective for the upcoming year is to become recognized as the source of objective information about synthetic turf. We need to ensure to provide this objective information to the legislative organizations, like the European Commission, and stronger than before promote the benefits of synthetic turf on the health and environment. 

What do you think will be the main challenges and advantages of the new integration with the STC (Synthetic Turf Council)?

The STC and ESTC are facing many issues that are the same in North America and in Europe. Fort those global issues, we need to work together and act as a global organization. At the same time, we need to ensure we act on a local level to connect to the local market circumstances. 

 

Artificial turf has been on the market since the 1960s and has been a real revolution for sports and landscaping. Do you think the artificial turf market is already well established?

We have indeed come a long way, but I think we are by far not done yet. We need to help the end user to better understand the product and to make the right decisions when purchasing synthetic turf. Minimum guidelines and certification of qualified installation companies will help consumers to purchase a product that satisfies their needs. 

What are the main threats / opportunities that you foresee for this market?

The biggest opportunity we have is to promote the benefits that synthetic turf has for the health and environment. We will have to emphasize that synthetic turf offers more options for people to play sports and relax in a way that helps to preserve the environment, by saving on water consumption. 

How do you think the importation of products from countries that do not have a free market economy affect the European industry? And, what is the ESTC doing about it? .

This is a delicate issue and has been threatening our industry for a long time now. Free trade is a crucial element of the western society. It is therefore certainly no the intention to limit competition. Nevertheless, competition should be fair and taking place on a level playing field for all parties involved in our business. Government funded exports subsidies and exchange rate manipulation are having a negative impact on fair trade practices. It is the intention of ESTC to study the legal options to challenge these unfair trade practices and to help restore the level playing field for all competitors. 

 

Finally, and to close this interview, we would like to know how the issue of sustainability in the artificial turf industry is currently contemplated.

 

As an industry, we have a responsibility to provide a sustainable product over the life-time of the product. This also includes to find the right solutions for the end-of-life synthetic turf. Multiple recycling options are already available to turn synthetic turf at the end of its life into new valuable resources. 

 

Thank you very much for allowing us time for this interview, we wish you luck and success in your new position at the ESTC. 

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