IMC hits a recycling milestone for National Playground Safety Week
ST. LOUIS (April 15, 2014) – International Mulch Company™(IMC™) today announced that they have now recycled more than 400,000,000 pounds of rubber into landscaping and playground products. This rubber was derived from over 40 million tires that in year’s past would have been buried in landfills across the country.
To put this amount of tires in perspective, if stacked end-to-end these recycled tires would stretch nearly 18,500 miles or three-quarters around the globe. If stacked in a pile they would fill Yankee Stadium to the roof more than four and half times.
“When we started our company more than a decade ago it was difficult to imagine that we would reach this milestone and give so many discarded tires a second life through recycling,” says Cindy Miller, CEO of IMC. “We know our work is only beginning as each year in the United States we produce an additional 300 million scrap ties, so it is vital that we continue to work to help the environment.
With National Playground Safety Week fast approaching (April 21 – April 25), the company estimates that in the past ten years they have sold 100% recycled mulch for nearly 100,000 residential and commercial playgrounds across the country. This superior safety surface has saved many children from a trip to the emergency room due to its industry-best fall height rating.
“Each year more than 200,000 preschool and elementary aged children receive emergency department care as a result of an injury that occurred on the playground,” says <<insert name>>. “It is a satisfying job to know that we produce the safest playground surface on the market today and we are helping lessen the amount of injuries across the country at playgrounds that use our rubber mulch.”
Much has been accomplished in recent years, but there is much more than can be done as every 2.5 minutes a child is taken to the emergency room as a result of a playground fall, and the playground surface is a large factor in the injury. Falls to the surface were the contributing factor in 79% of all injuries and on home equipment 81% were associated with a fall.
As the statistics show, rubber mulch offers twice the fall height rating of its closest competitor. In addition to its outstanding rating, there are also fewer bruises, scrapes and cuts when rubber mulch is the surface as there are no sharp edges and rubber mulch will not compact over time lessening its safety rating.
In addition to installing recycled rubber as your ground cover of choice for safety, here are a few additional tips to stay safe:
- When you first get to a playground look down first and then up. If you do not feel that the surface is safe, the material is old or compacted, it may be best to find another area to play.
- Taking a child to a playground should be seen as active, for both the child and the adult. Some parents like to spend the time reading a book or sitting on a bench, but as we know, many children channel their inner daredevil when they reach the play equipment. Forty percent of all playground injuries are the result of a lack of supervision.
- Find age appropriate equipment for your child to play on. Only 9 percent of playgrounds have signs noting the recommended age for play. If you think it may be dangerous, it probably will be for your child.
- Remove hood and neck drawstrings from all children’s outerwear. Never allow children to wear helmets, necklaces, purses, scarves or clothing with drawstrings while on playgrounds as it increases the risk of strangulation.
- Report any playground safety hazards to the organization responsible for the site (e.g., school, park authority, city council).
- Find a park that offers the little ones some shade as children can become dehydrated very quickly as the temperature rises.
Together we can all help make our play areas safer for all children.
For additional information on our full suite of recycled rubber products, please visit us at www.internationalmulch.com or at www.facebook.com/rubbermulch.
International Mulch Company™ (IMC) is a family-owned and operated business with its corporate headquarters located in St. Louis, Missouri and production facilities in Illinois, Maryland and California. We manufacture long-lasting landscaping and playground products made from 100 percent recycled rubber tires. Our products are sold both in-store and online at thousands of retail locations across the United States, at fine retailers such as: Lowe’s, Menards, Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware, True Value, Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Meijer and DoitBest. To date we have recycled more than 400,000,000 pounds of rubber under the Rubberific®, NuPlay®, Re-Play®, NuScape® and Lasting Beauty® brand names.