Recycled rubber mulch provides 16 feet of fall-height protection
According to an October press release from Liberty Tire Recycling, a 6-inch layer of recycled rubber mulch will cushion a child’s fall from as high as 16 feet, providing up to 50 percent more fall-height protection than wood mulch using half of the material. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Council reports that more than 150,000 children are injured in playground falls each year, which makes safety surfacing one of the most vital components of playground construction.
“Added to the superior safety characteristics, recycled rubber mulch will not decompose or compress, and is resistant to erosion caused by wind and water, as well as fading caused by sunlight,” said Jeffrey Kendall, CEO of Liberty Tire Recycling, a provider of tire recycling services in North America. “The long-lasting, low-maintenance properties of recycled rubber mulch provide a true value proposition while enhancing safety.”
Liberty Tire Recycling says developers, parks and recreation directors, landscapers and others who choose recycled rubber mulch benefit in many ways. Rubber mulch is non allergenic, non-toxic and harmless to plants, pets and children. Moreover, the company says, rubber mulch is clean, minimizes airborne dust and particles, does not splinter like wood mulch, and provides an outlet to reuse millions of discarded tires, instead of trees. It is a truly sustainable product made from recycled scrap tires that would otherwise likely end up in a landfill or a tire pile.
The company also says that compared with the expense of annually applying wood mulch, the up-front purchase of rubber mulch actually costs up to 65 percent less over a nominal five-year period.
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Liberty Tire Recycling maintains a nationwide network of processing plants, and comprehensive door-to-door collection services. The company reclaims more than 110 million tires annually throughout the U.S. and Canada, creating about 1.5 billion pounds of recycled rubber for a range of products. The recycled rubber produced by Liberty Tire is used as crumb rubber and industrial feedstock for molded products; as tire-derived fuel for industrial kilns, mills and power plants; and as rubber mulch for landscaping and playgrounds.