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Playground projects receive state grant funding

A playground with crumb rubber mulch is shown.

Program provides rubber mulch for playgrounds, tracks, athletic fields

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 26, 2012) – More than $300,000 in state grant funds have been awarded to 20 playground projects across the state.

The funds will allow for the use of crumb rubber, made from recycled scrap tires, according to a press release from Gov. Steve Beshear’s office. The rubber is used for mulch on playgrounds to enhance durability and safety; for fitness/walking tracks; for landscaping, and on athletic fields to reduce soil degradation and increase safety benefits.

The crumb rubber grants program encourages environmental stewardship, Beshear said.

“The Energy and Environment Cabinet is pleased to support these projects that will use recycled Kentucky waste tires in an environmentally beneficial way, and which also will enhance playground safety for our children across the Commonwealth,” he said.

The grants are from the Waste Tire Trust Fund, established by the 1998 Kentucky General Assembly to receive a $1 fee from each retail sale of a new tire in the state. The fund manages 4 million scrap tires generated in Kentucky each year and helps develop markets for recycled tire products.

Recipients, along with grant amounts, are as follows: