ECORE produces a recycled rubber crumb which is essentially SBR that has been ground into various sized granules. Those granules are then used in ECORE’s surfacing, industrial, and sound insulation products as the primary ingredient.
Recycled Rubber is a post-consumer product, recycled primarily from car and truck tires. Recycled Rubber is the most widely used type of synthetic rubber. Its manufacturing involves copolymerization of three parts butadiene with one part styrene. Perhaps the most widely used application is tires.
Why use Recycled Rubber Crumb?
Itstru technology is made with recycled rubber and because of its high recycled composition as well as its durable nature, its sound and shock absorption properties, low life cycle costs, and the fact that our finished products consistently exceed all indoor air quality standards.
ECORE is the largest user of scrap tire rubber in the U.S.A., converting over 80 million pounds of tires annually into recycled rubber products. Our capabilities include grinding, screening, removal of stone, wood, paper, fluff, fiber, and other materials from scrap tire rubber to produce exacting specifications that meet or exceed our customers internal, external, and ASTM specifications. With our state of the art equipment, experienced staff, and 100 million pound capacity, we are uniquely capable of producing the cleanest, most consistent, and highest quality material available in the market place.
Rubber is among the most sophisticated and engineered man made materials on the planet. Rubber is designed to never degrade, decompose, or deteriorate. Unlike other commodities such as metal, plastic, glass, or wood, rubber cannot be returned to its original state economically. So, the processing and production of recycled rubber products is very difficult. But in order to meet our quality and sustainability objectives, ECORE is always developing new, innovative technologies to process waste rubber into value added products.
The Safety of Recycled Rubber Crumb
There have been many questions that have arisen in the past few years that question the safety of crumb rubber or recycled rubber chips, more specifically the loose chips that can be found on Turf fields and playgrounds. A number of states and associations have conducted tests and released reports to help clear up any misconceptions related to recycled crumb rubber safety. All of the results confirm that surfacing made from crumb rubber is safe for the environment and for the communities that use them. It is unequivocal that exposure to crumb rubber products poses NO risk to adults, children, or pets. Crumb rubber does not pollute the earth or water tables. It does not contain harmful levels of lead and the material concentrations that make up tire rubber are far below levels that are considered harmful. The EPA performed tests on crumb rubber and published results in December 2009 on their website in an article titled, The Use of Recycled Tire Materials on Playgrounds & Artificial Turf Field. The summary of results stated, "On average, the concentrations of components monitored in this study were below levels of concern."
Similar conclusions have been established on the international front. In a study on the assessment of health risks from recycled crumb rubber the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Radium Hospital stated, "On the basis of estimated exposure values and the doses/concentrations which can cause harmful effects in humans or in animal experiments, it is concluded that the use of artificial turf halls does not cause any elevated health risk. This applies to children, older children, juniors and adults." The International Federation of Association Football in Switzerland also states, "Epidemiological studies conducted by the Health Effects Institute, The World Health Organization and other investigators do not implicate tyre wear particles in ambient air as contributing to human health effects (respiratory and cardiovascular diseases)."