Lakewood, NJ - RubbeRecycle, a company that recycles tires into mulch (http://www.rubberecycle.com/playground_rubber_mulch.asp) for playgrounds, wants to extend the environmental benefits of the popular Cash for Clunkers program. The program means more than 800,000 cars were traded in for more fuel efficient models. The problem is that there are more than 3 million tires from those cars that could end up in landfills.

Many landfills have banned tires because they contaminate the air, land and water. Used tires can be managed in an environmentally sound manner by making tires into new products and finding new uses.

"RubbeRecycle uses advanced technology to turn tires into new products like playground surfaces, rubber curbing and landscaping mulch," said Keith Sacks, Vice President of RubbeRecycle.

Cities have been using recycled tire mulch in parks for more than a decade now. The White House recently chose to do the same. They built an environmentally-friendly playground at the nation's capital. The surface they used is the RubbeRecycle's Playsafer Mulch, which came recommended by the National Recreation and Park Association and the International Play Equipment Manufacturer's Association.

"The products made from recycled tires have been shown to be safe for kids and playgrounds,” Sacks said. “There have been more than a hundred studies over nearly two decades. It's recommended by the EPA and Consumer Reports has given it two thumbs up. It's safer than wood mulch, gravel and sand products."

He went on to say that besides the green aspect, playground safety (http://www.rubberecycle.com/playsafer_FAQ.asp) is a focus: "Playsafer passed the egg test. That is, we dropped an egg from the top of a 14-foot playground. It landed on our 6-inch cushion of Playsafer, bounced, but did not break," said Sacks.

The company currently processes between 5,000 and 7,000 tires a day and is designed to handle 2 million scrap tires annually.