Overall, with local communities already calling for safer, more accessible playgrounds and others already implementing them, it's clear that this is an emerging priority for parents across the country. Utilizing recycled rubber surfacing is a simple first step to building play environments that allow children to experience the crucial benefits associated with play, while also mitigating the risks of falls and severe injuries. With the adoption of recycled rubber surfacing backed by science, it's time for public and private playgrounds to make the move toward creating play spaces that every child can safely enjoy.

Prior to the expansion of recycled tire markets, many scrap tires were diverted from landfills, leading to an alarming emergence of scrap tire stockpiles throughout the 1960s and 70s. While rubber recycling has come a long way in recent decades, there is still more work to be done on decreasing existing tire stockpiles. According to USTMA's 2019 Scrap Tire Management Report, around 56 million tires remain in stockpiles across the U.S. These stockpiles—often legacy stockpiles, the product of mismanagement, or sites for illegal dumping—are primarily located in states without active stockpile cleanup programs, and they can become a big problem for communities.

While much of the discussion about a transition to a clean, circular economy has focused on sweeping government action to reduce emissions, ensuring a dynamic recycling industry can continue to operate will be a critical part of any solution to climate change. Recyclers have already been a driving force behind reducing pollution and emissions, and will be essential to decarbonizing the economy. One of the largest segments of the American recycling industry is rubber recyclers—who produce crumb rubber from scrap tires—a material regularly used to create artificial turf fields, playground surfaces, hospital floors, rubberized asphalt, and other consumer products.

While the benefits of rubberized asphalt are not highly publicized, the material could be a game changer for future infrastructure projects. There is clear evidence that rubberized asphalt is more affordable and greener than non-rubberized asphalt. Research from the University of Missouri and the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association finds that compared to regular asphalt, rubberized asphalt produces 34% less CO2 emissions, doubles the lifespan of roads, and costs 43% less over the life cycle of the road. Current road construction practices result in high emissions and have seen costs skyrocket over the last 50 years. Increased use of rubberized asphalt would reduce these out of control costs and emissions from road construction.