THE GEN 5 SYNTHETIC ATHLETIC SYSTEM
Apparently, tires have been a solid waste issue for many decades now and with an increasing amount of vehicles on the road, the issue continues to grow. At the end of 2003 alone, the US had generated close to 300 million scrap tires. Without government intervention regulating disposal, tires were left to pile up creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes and spontaneously igniting into toxic bonfires. They aren’t, as I had initially assumed, hazardous waste. They only necessitate special disposal to avoid the accumulation of tires that prompts the aforementioned breeding grounds and toxic fires.
Fortunately, markets now exist for 80% of scrap tires-up from 17% in 1990. These markets - both recycling and beneficial use - continue to grow. Almost half of the tires are burned for fuel, another 20 percent are used in civil engineering projects, about 8 percent is ground up and recycled into other products and about 4 percent is ground up and used in rubber-modified asphalt. The remainder are exported, retreaded, used “miscellaneously”, or landfilled.
Many of these applications are indeed a beneficial second life for a product so integral to modern life. Still, I questioned the physical make-up of tires and the initial research I was finding demonstrating toxic chemicals and heavy metals leaching out of tires. Studies basically show the levels to be minimal, but the mom and environmental health advocate in me always questions “safe levels.” If there’s a safer alternative, why accept even a “minimal” risk? I am a huge proponent of recycling, but why are we using a potentially risky material where our children play?
A Second Life: Tires as Turf for Athletic Fields and Playgrounds
We’ve been using artificial turf for decades and it takes a variety of forms, including rubberized asphalt, playground surfaces, and landscape mulches. The original AstroTurf fields are beginning to degrade and release alarming amounts of lead into the environment. These fields are being torn up and replaced with the latest fake, partially constituted of old tires. Initially touted as an environmentally responsible way to recycle old tires, more are questioning the logic behind using a material too risky to dispose of in landfills for ground cover where our children play.
THE TALE OF THE TIRE
While the media is mostly covering the use of what’s known as “crumb rubber” as infill on synthetic athletic field coverings, scrap tires can also be recycled into solid surfaces, as well as used as loose fill like in the situation of my daughter’s school. In this case, the rubber is simply shredded and dumped around the base of a play structure.
My initial research found that contention over the use of this product is growing across the US. Many states and municipalities are halting the continued use of tire turf until more studies are conducted to ensure the safety of the surface.