BERKELEY, Calif. (April 23, 2010)—Liberty Tire Recycling, the nation's largest tire recycling firm, is publicly praising a study performed at the University of California-Berkeley that shows crumb rubber to be a safe, durable and useful infill for athletic fields.
The study, performed by the university's Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability for the Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex), showed that crumb rubber fields don't cause dangerous levels of toxic materials, and also that injuries on crumb rubber playground and athletic fields don't differ in number or severity from injuries sustained on natural grass fields.
“Numerous studies have been carried out on this material,” the executive summary of the Berkeley-Manex study said. “For the most part, the studies have vindicated defenders of crumb rubber, identifying it as a safe, cost-effective and responsible use for tire rubber.”
Jeffrey Kendall, CEO of Liberty Tire, issued a press release extolling the Berkeley-Manex study.
“At Liberty Tire, we applaud the efforts of Manex and Berkeley researchers to further validate the conclusions of numerous other studies,” Kendall said. “The evidence is clear. Crumb rubber used in artificial turf or as a playground surfacing poses no significant health or environmental risk.”