This consumer guide breaks down the long-term benefits of two common playground surfaces: poured-in-place surfaces made from recycled rubber and wood chip. In comparing their playability, durability, and long-term value, this guide provides practical, industry-backed insights into the benefits of choosing poured-in-place rubber playground surfaces.

This represents the first comprehensive comparison of wood chips and poured-in-place rubber used in playground surfaces, offering stakeholders a clear evaluation of safety, cost, and maintenance.

This consumer guide examines the use of natural grass versus crumb rubber turf for athletic playing fields. By going beyond initial installation and maintenance costs, this guide provides a comprehensive analysis of long-term ownership expenses, offering a full perspective on how recycled rubber products can deliver long-term value and sustainability in athletic fields.

Based on real-world cost, safety, and maintenance comparisons, this illustrative guide is designed to help decision-makers in communities, schools, and parks understand the benefits using recycled rubber in fields.

The safety of the recycled rubber industry in the U.S. is governed by a comprehensive, multi-layered regulatory framework that ensures industry accountability and product safety.

Government agencies, third-party organizations, retailers, and recycled rubber companies all do their part to ensure the industry is held to strict standards, creating safe products while effectively reducing rubber waste. We have outlined these key players and their roles a guide to equip the public with a clear understanding of the extensive regulations the recycled rubber industry adheres to in order to ensure consumer and environmental safety.

In April 2024, the EPA released a report exploring chemical exposure levels associated with synthetic turf fields that use recycled tire crumb rubber.

The EPA found low chemical levels in athletes who regularly use synthetic turf fields. The report also found no significant differences in PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) levels between turf and natural field users, and no significant increase in metal exposure levels for turf field users.

This one-pager distills the key takeaways of the report.

Similar to the Chemical Safety Guide, we put together a shorter, one-page infographic that breaks down the various bodies that regulate the recycled rubber industry to ensure its safety.

Despite all the benefits EVs confer on the environment, they actually increase one environmental challenge: the cars produce more scrap tires. EVs are 20% heavier than equivalent gas-powered vehicles and can reach maximum torque almost instantaneously, both of which increase friction and contribute to increased tire wear and waste.

In the first analysis of its kind, the Recycled Rubber Coalition estimates that as drivers transition to EVs, the U.S. will produce more than 350 million scrap tires annually by 2030. Without proper reuse, those tires could end up in junkyards and landfills, creating environmental and public health hazards.

The good news is that tires are made to last and are the perfect material for a circular economy. Yesterday's tires can become tomorrow's rubber-modified asphalt, crumb rubber infill, or poured-in-place playground surfaces.

For the first time, the Recycled Rubber Coalition is releasing a white paper that includes background on waste tires, case studies, and policy recommendations to manage tire waste responsibly.

Each year, almost 300 million scrap tires, estimated to be over six billion pounds, are generated in the United States—that's more than the average weight of every elephant in the world combined. Rubber recyclers and end-market users are critical to finding a secondary life for those millions of tires. This system of recovery, recycling, and secondary usage keeps more than 220 million tires out of landfills each year and supports nearly 8,500 jobs with an estimated economic impact of $2.47 billion, a marked improvement from before rubber recycling began.

But there is still more work to be done. The Recycled Rubber Coalition offers policy recommendations for the federal, state, and local levels within our white paper below.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $110 billion in surface transportation infrastructure, with a focus on sustainable, long-lasting results. Rubber-modified asphalt (RMA) is proven to provide long-lasting results with better performance, compared to traditional asphalt. State departments of transportation, infrastructure coordinators, governors, and legislatures that use it are benefitting from these results.

Investing in RMA enables several benefits for states including

(1) Making roads last longer by decreasing instances of cracking and rutting that lead to dangerous potholes.

(2) Requiring less maintenance, which saves taxpayer dollars and decreases burdensome roadwork delays.

(3) Improving safety for drivers.

(4) Saving money over the lifetime of the road.

Life-cycle cost savings estimates for implementing RMA vary, but overall, there is potential for important savings that would allow state and local budgets to go further and last longer.

Check out our full policy primer to learn more about the benefits of RMA.

You may have heard claims about recycled rubber and negative health effects on humans. These claims are unsubstantiated conspiracies, easily refuted by science. Here's what you need to know:

Recycled rubber is produced from tires. Materials like fiber and wire are moved and the rubber is cleaned and thenground into "crumb rubber." At no point in the process does the rubber undergo any chemical change. In short, recycled rubber is rubber. The recycled rubber can then be used for a wide variety of applications, including in play-surfaces, hospital floors, roads and sidewalks, and even shoes.

False stories on the negative health effects of recycled rubber took off following unsubstantiated claims made by an associate soccer coach at University of Washington. This coach claimed to have a list of players who played on synthetic turf and happened to develop cancer. While these claims were picked up by media and worried parents, it is important to note that these claims had NO scientific backing whatsoever.

To date, there have been 100+ scientific studies, including peer-reviewed academic analyses and federal and state government reports, that have thus far found no significant health risk associated with synthetic turf containing recyclable rubber infill.

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), in partnership with the University of Missouri and The Ray, published a peer-reviewed report assessing the potential economic, performance, and environmental benefits of rubber-modified asphalt (RMA). The report finds that RMA is not only a viable end-of-life market for scrap tires—it has significant potential to improve infrastructure. When applied, RMA provides significant public benefits in sustainability, performance and safety, and cost-efficiency.

Compared to traditional asphalt, RMA provides cost savings over the lifecycle of the pavement, extends pavement life, improves fuel economy, and reduces noise, CO2 emissions and tire and road wear particles.

“This research provides those who make infrastructure decisions—road operators, state and federal regulators and legislators, pavement and road construction contractors and researchers—with important information on the effectiveness and environmental impact of rubber modified asphalt. It outlines why states should review and expand asphalt specifications to incorporate this proven alternative.” — Dr. Bill Buttlar, lead researcher and Director of the Missouri Center for Transportation Innovation.

“Every year almost 300 million scrap tires are generated in the United States. Recycled rubber obtained from scrap tires can be used in a number of beneficial ways. One of the most beneficial uses involves producing Ground Tire Rubber (GTR) from scrap tires and using the GTR to create Rubber-Modified Asphalt (RMA). RMA has been used in the U.S. since the 1960s, but extensive market adoption is yet to occur. Thus, a central question regarding RMA that still remains unanswered is, can RMA help eliminate scrap tire stockpiles in the U.S., boost pavement sustainability and longevity, and allow more miles of roads to be repaired? Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia tested this hypothesis in collaboration with the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and The Ray, a philanthropic organization dedicated to the discovery and implementation of sustainable transportation technologies. The resulting State of Knowledge (SOK) report provides an up-to-date review of RMA, including its historical development and use, production methods, field performance, economics, safety, driver comfort, environmental impact, and sustainability benefits. Knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research and investment are also assessed in the SOK report. The SOK study reviewed 312 scholarly articles and reports dating back to the early 1960’s, and involved a survey of 26 U.S. state highway agencies to better ascertain the gaps in knowledge and barriers to more widespread adoption of RMA nationwide.”

Recycled rubber is rubber that has been salvaged from scrap materials such as used tires. Recycled rubber gives us innovative ways to reduce waste while solving important challenges – from facilitating softer playground surfaces, to building better roads, to making lower-impact hospital floors for nurses on their feet all day. U.S. scrap rubber manufacturers recycle roughly 110 million tires annually – or one tire for every three people in the U.S.

Tires, designed to be virtually indestructible under a variety of conditions, have historically been difficult to dispose of or recycle. In most cases, old and worn tires were replaced with newer tires and dumped illegally in nature and potentially sensitive habitats. Others were added to landfills. Today, thanks to innovations in manufacturing, scrap rubber is used to make new tires, playground surfaces, equestrian mats, and rubberized asphalt—among other products. Tire recycling is an economically sound, environmentally-friendly activity that can contribute to the reduction of a product’s overall carbon footprint by anywhere from four to twenty percent when compared to virgin plastic resins.

Recycling rubber tires means that millions of scrap tires are no longer dumped in landfills, or left illegally in sensitive habitats. Instead, more than 75 percent of these tires are being recycled and reused annually. Recycling saves impressive amounts of energy, which ultimately reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Using recycled rubber in molded products, for example, creates a substantially smaller (by a factor of up to 20 times) carbon footprint as compared to using virgin plastic resins.

In addition to being an environmental steward, the recycled rubber industry is an economic leader and job creator. According to a 2015 study, the rubber recycling industry generates more than $2.47 billion annually in economic activity. This includes, providing nearly 8,500 good-paying jobs (direct and indirect) in all 50 states which generate more than $500 million in employee wages and $182 million in federal, state, and local tax revenues.

“Recycled rubber infill benefits sustainability efforts. The use of this infill helps by conserving water, reducing fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and diverting millions of tires from landfills.”

“[E]xisting studies have evaluated many aspects of safety; they have looked a multitude of chemicals, at all major exposure pathways—ingestion, inhalation, skin contact—and have used many methods. oThese studies and reports have failed to find any link between recycled rubber infill and cancer or any other human health risk.” (2019)

“Scrap recycling is a major U.S.-based industry dedicated to transforming end-of-life products and industrial scrap into new commodity grade materials and driving economies by making the old new again. Recognized as one of the world’s first green industries, scrap recycling creates and supports jobs and has a positive impact on the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy, and protecting our natural resources.”

“In addition to being an environmental steward, the study confirmed that the U.S. scrap recycling industry plays a prominent role as an economic leader, job creator, and major exporter. Specifically, the study found that the people and firms that purchase, process, and broker old materials to be manufactured into new products in America provide 534,506 adults with good jobs in the United States and generate approximately $116.97 billion annually in economic activity.” (ISRI, 2017)

“On one side of the conflict are more than 70 studies and literature reviews from state health departments, universities, and other independent entities in the United States and in Europe. None of the studies say crumb rubber is a public health or environmental concern. On the other side are environmental groups and residents who worry that various chemicals in tire rubber could cause cancer or other health problems, and they are asking school boards, cities, and states to ban crumb rubber infill. Tire processors and synthetic turf vendors are concerned that this fear has trumped the facts and maligned a product with real environmental benefits.” (Megan Quinn, Scrap Magazine 2016)

“Thousands of synthetic turf fields in the US are regularly used by millions of individuals (particularly children and adolescents). Although many safety assessments have concluded that there are low or negligible risks related to exposure to chemicals found in the recycled rubber used to make these fields, concerns remain about the safety of this product. Existing studies of recycled rubber's potential health risks have limitations such as small sample sizes and limited evaluation of relevant exposure pathways and scenarios.”

“This HHRA's results add to the growing body of literature that suggests recycled rubber infill in synthetic turf poses negligible risks to human health. This comprehensive assessment provides data that allow stakeholders to make informed decisions about installing and using these fields.” (Peterson et al., Environmental Research 2018)

“[E]xisting studies have evaluated many different aspects of safety; they have looked at a multitude of chemicals, at all the major exposure pathways (ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact), and have used a variety of methods. When the totality of the evidence is considered, when all of the synthetic turf studies are looked at together, the data does not give us reason to believe there are health concerns associated with these products.”

Read this Q+A with board certified toxicologist, Michael Peterson, M.E.M, Environmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment, Duke University; Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology

“There have been dozens of studies, peer-reviewed academic analyses and government reports published that have been analyzed by independent third-parties and hold up under peer-review from toxicologists that are committed to impartial evaluation of the science. Available studies show exposures to many of the chemicals in artificial turf is not substantially different from those in urban or rural soil.” (Michael Peterson, M.E.M., Environmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment, Duke University; Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology)

“The U.S. scrap recycling industry is not only a thriving economic engine, but also a pivotal player in environmental protection, resource conservation, and sustainability. The industry recycled more than 135 million metric tons of materials in 2014, transforming outdated or obsolete scrap into useful raw materials needed to produce a range of new products. Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions by significantly saving the amount of energy needed to manufacture the products that we buy, build, and use every day. The energy saved by recycling may then be used for other purposes, such as heating our homes and powering our automobiles.In addition to being an environmental steward, the study confirmed that the U.S. scrap recycling industry plays a prominent role as an economic leader, job creator, and major exporter.” (ISRI, 2015)

“In 2014, crumb rubber in synthetic turf fields was hypothesized to cause cancer in adolescents and young adults who used the fields, particularly lymphoma and primarily in soccer goalkeepers. The concern has induced some school systems and park departments to abandon plans to install synthetic turf fields and governments to initiate major toxicology studies, the results of which are expected to take years to obtain.

Meanwhile, the state of the science of adolescent and young adult cancer causation does not support the hypothesis. On the contrary, the potential for decreasing exercise by reducing access to playgrounds and sports fields may increase the rate of cancer occurrence in later life.” (Dr. Archie Bleyer, Sports Medicine 2017)