Using materials recovered from the waste stream typically results in less waste, pollution, and energy use than using virgin materials. From an environmental standpoint, post-consumer is typically considered preferable to pre-consumer recycled content because post-consumer recycled materials are more likely to have been diverted from landfills.
In some cases, we consider products with recycled content green but with some caveats regarding where they should be used. For example, rubber flooring made from recycled automobile tires should not be used in most fully enclosed indoor spaces due to the likelihood of VOC emissions.
Recycling can have downsides. For example, some studies show that curbside collection programs and some recycling processes use more energy than they save. Closed-loop recycling is generally preferable to “down-cycling,” in which a lower-grade material is produced—but due to contamination of waste streams and the difficulty of extracting high-value ingredients, down-cycling may be as good as it gets. At times recycling can re-introduce hazardous components. Some products, like copper and aluminum, include a high level of recycled content as a matter of course—which we applaud, but don’t consider justification for listing in GreenSpec. As more complete life-cycle information on recycled materials and processes becomes available, we use that to increase our scrutiny of recycled products.
Loose Crumb Rubber Surfacing
North West Rubber produces crumb rubber from used tires in various sizes ranging from 30 mesh to 1/2". Crumb rubber can be used as an ingredient in asphalt mixes, as a playground material, and on running tracks.
Salvaged and recycled materials, such as brick or glass chunks with softened edges, can be attractive surfacing materials in landscaping applications. Granulated rubber made from recycled tires can make a durable and highly resilient play environment when applied to a 6" depth; it creates a softer play environment than pea gravel and, unlike wood chips, will not rot or attract insects. Keep these areas separated from other landscaping materials so that the nonbiodegradable aggregate can later be removed if uses change.
Also called tire crumb, granulated rubber has been a source of public concern in recent years because of the range of chemicals found in tire rubber. EPA conducted a small study of tire crumb surfaces in 2008, which found no chemicals at or above legal concentration limits.
Airborne particulate matter, including lead, was detected during high play activity but remained well below national air quality standards; lead extracted from the surface itself was well below EPA standards for lead in soil or in residential floor dust. However, EPA cautions that the small scale of the study makes it difficult to generalize about all uses of granulated rubber and reiterates that children should always wash their hands after playing outside.
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MRc4: Recycled Content
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