Liberty Tire Recycling Helps to Create Safer Athletic Surfaces at a Missouri High School with Installation of Crumb Rubber Infill

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Tire Recycling, the premier provider of tire recycling services in North America, recently partnered with Union High School in Union, Missouri for the installation of a new athletic field surface containing more than 80,000 pounds of the company's crumb rubber infill.  The installation enabled the high school's fall sports season to benefit from the use of a more durable and safer athletic field surface.

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"Natural grass surfaces experience increased wear and tear and require significant maintenance throughout the year to achieve best results during the sports seasons," said Mike Wezel, vice president of sales and marketing for Liberty Tire Recycling.  "The addition of crumb rubber infill provided for a longer-lasting and more cost-effective enhancement to natural grass for Union High School, and it's a solution that can apply to natural grass athletic surfaces at schools across the nation."

The use of crumb rubber infill in natural grass surfaces has been proven to maximize shock absorption by creating a softer and safer playing surface for athletes.  Less water is required to maintain the surface, which also allows for a longer life of the grass on high-traffic areas of the field.  Synthetic turf also positively impacts the environment by conserving more than three billion gallons of water, eliminating the use of almost a billion pounds of pesticides and fertilizers, and lowering the consumption of energy and raw materials.  In addition, recycling tires and transforming them into crumb rubber helps to keep more than 140 million used tires out of landfills.

"We recently concluded our first fall sports season with the addition of crumb rubber infill to our natural grass athletic surface, and we are very happy with the results we've seen.  It added hours of playability to the field.  The players enjoyed improved footing, which made for a safer surface since the crumb rubber infill softened the ground.  Additionally, no injuries occurred due to the surface," said Brent Eckley, head football coach, Union High School.  "Maintenance and operating costs also decreased.  The surface required nearly 25-percent less watering along with significantly less upkeep.  The field didn't dry out as quickly as it had in the past, which allowed for greater flexibility as to when it was watered.  The surface even stayed greener longer in the lower-traffic areas of the field."

Liberty Tire Recycling recently became the first and only company to achieve GREENGUARD Synthetic Turf Components Certification from the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute for indoor air quality for the company's synthetic turf product, TurfGuard, which is an eco-friendly solution for athletic fields and other playing surfaces.

To learn more about Liberty Tire Recycling, visit www.libertytire.com. 

About Liberty Tire Recycling

Liberty Tire Recycling is the premier provider of tire recycling services in North America.  By recycling more than 140 million tires annually, Liberty Tire reclaims about 1.5 billion pounds of rubber for innovative, eco-friendly products.  The recycled rubber produced by Liberty Tire is used as crumb rubber and industrial feedstock for molded products; as tire-derived fuel for industrial kilns, mills and power plants; and as rubber mulch for landscaping and playgrounds.  The company maintains a nationwide network of processing plants, and comprehensive door-to-door collection services.  Liberty Tire Recycling is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.  For more information, please visit www.libertytire.com.

SOURCE Liberty Tire Recycling