Build a playground with recycled rubber tires

Recycled rubber tires for the playground (Photo by Jane Gates)

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Old tires have been a favorite addition to the playground for decades whether they were swung from trees or lined up for running and hopping on the ground. But now playgrounds in city parks and cutting-edge homeowners have adopted tires for playground floor material.

Tires are being shredded and recycled rather than taking up trash yard space. The metal is removed and the soft rubber is often dyed a rainbow of colors. It is then packaged up and sold in bags or used in a layered laminate for a safe, cushioned outdoor flooring.

City parks and other professional installations lay down a base layer of glue and rubber that is topped by a finer shredded tire product. The top layer is smooth and with all the colors to choose from, is often patterned in decorative designs. The final product is a bouncy rubber pavement that is ideal for children to play on and is safe for falls.

A similar product is sold by the bag in an assortment of colors and can be purchased from paving suppliers or on the internet for home use. Rather than filling a play area with the traditional sand, shredded tires are decorative, do not attract bugs, cats or wild critters, and afford more bounce than any other material. This means even a tumble from a high piece of play equipment is likely to cause no injury. Manufacturers claim that the recycled shredded tires are even safe should a child swallow a piece.

Another benefit of using these recycled shredded tires is that they should last for at least 20 years. Instead of lasting for that same time as useless landfill waste, you can rake up shredded tires from an outgrown play area and re-use them in a sport court, for a running path, or for any other purpose.

Make sure you buy a quality product in which all the metal has been removed. There has been some recent talk about the possibilities that some trace toxic chemicals left from the making of the tires may still remain in the rubber.  Investigations are ongoing. However, better qualitiy sources are making the effort to ensure their materials are fully safe. Check into who is manufacturing your recycled tire products before purchasing them.

This new form of recycling tires in the playground seems to be a perfect solution for safe playground flooring. Safe, resilient and attractive, shredded tires are a good way to provide a bouncy floor while keeping old tires out of landfills. The cost per bag is a little more than sand, gravel or bark, but the benefits seem far greater. And since other products will have to be renewed regularly, the extra cost should be more than paid for over the course of a year or two. So, if you are thinking of building a child’s playground, you might want to build your playground with recycled shredded tires as a flooring.