What is Playground Rubber Mulch?

One of the most popular safety play surfaces today is playground rubber mulch. Many have no idea what it’s comprised of, how long it’s been around, and why it is so popular. Find out the answer to all these questions and more in this informative interview with Jelly Bean CEO Nic Campesi.

In the video you’ll learn:

  • What playground rubber mulch is
  • What it’s comprised of and different types that exist
  • The difference between pre-consumer and post-consumer rubber
  • How long playground rubber mulch has existed as a safety surface
  • Length of product life – how long will it take to degrade
  • Where to find virgin non-toxic playground rubber mulch

Watch now and give us a call or fill out our quote form if you have any questions.

Here is a transcript of the above video for your reference:

Clark: [00:00:00] Hey Clark Covington here with Nic Campesi, Nic how are you?

Nic: [00:00:03] Fantastic Clark and yourself?

Clark: [00:00:05] Doing great. Nic I want to talk to you a little bit today about playground rubber mulch. What exactly is that?

Nic: [00:00:11] Playground rubber mulch is a rubber product underneath a playground for fall safety and you know it is typically a tire-based product and it’s whole design is just to help reduce playground injuries on you know from kids falling or tripping underneath swings slides you know and other structures.

Clark: [00:00:37] Sure, and how long has this. You know playground mulch been around as as a play surface?

Nic: [00:00:43] You know for my industry experience you know I see that it kind of came about some time around the 1980s where people started chopping up tires and throwing them on playgrounds.

Clark: [00:00:53] OK. And what are the different types of playground rubber mulch?

Nic: [00:00:58] So you really have a couple different things in the marketplace. You have companies that just chop up tires and then you have people that go a step further or chop it up and they’ll actually put a coating on it to keep all the nasty black stuff from getting on kids you know. And then you know the third would be what our company does Jelly Bean and we make a non-tire virgin rubber mulch.

Clark: [00:01:24] Okay. And can you give me an idea of tire of tire rubber mulch vs non-tire virgin rubber mulch in terms of how long the product lasts?

Nic: [00:01:35] So you know they’re both vulcanized products so you know I mean we have a 60 year test on our product and realistically you know there’s no no reason why you know a tire rubber might not necessarily you know provide good fall data for that long. However a couple of things you know the older the tire rubber gets we’re starting to have a lot of people who bought tire rubber used 5 10 15 years ago who are saying you know it starts breaking. And you know the kids are starting to get black streaks on their clothes and whatnot or the coating is coming off. So I mean ultimately you know vulcanized rubber is hard to destroy. And you know the jelly bean rubber it’s a little higher durometer rubber than tire-based rubber so you know we put a full 20 year warranty on our product that it won’t degrade.

Clark: [00:02:26] OK so a 20 year warranty that it won’t degrade.

Nic: [00:02:30] That’s correct.

Clark: [00:02:31] And what are some other benefits of using playground rubber mulch?

Nic: [00:02:35] Well you know ultimately you’ve got to have a safety surface under a playground. And so you know the bottom of the level really the most expensive over time is throwing wood chips down because you constantly have to replace them they’re constantly rotting and they’re left out of spec the next day after you put them in because they degrade so fast. You know I talked to someone this morning that you know their issue is heck that you know we’ve got we’ve got kids that a re you know have mold allergies and this is wood is molding you know going to a synthetic-based product long term is lower cost though higher cost upfront. And so you know we see more you know as you look at over time a synthetic product really being the smart choice for a playground.

Clark: [00:03:28] Sure. And what’s the difference between pre-consumer and post-consumer rubber mulch?

Nic: [00:03:33] So pre-consumer would be like Jelly Bean rubber that’s rubber you know we’re taking a rubber tile that’s designed for a child to play on. And this you know we’re taking stuff the trimmings the things that don’t meet scrap we bundle it up and that’s where we make the product you know a post-consumer product would be like a tire because it’s used on a car that’s been on the roadway. You know are are some form of other rubber even could be you know post-consumer if it were a gasket or something.

Clark: [00:04:07] Sure. And if people want to learn more about Jelly Bean playground rubber mulch how could they find out is there a web site they can go to?

Nic: [00:04:15] Yes if you got to www dot jelly bean rubber mulch dot com you can also fill out the contact form there and feel free to send us any questions.

Clark: [00:04:27] Awesome. Nic thank you so much.

Nic: [00:04:29] All right. Thank you.

Jelly Bean

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