Companies supplying flooring solutions for playgrounds, leisure and sports applications have been selling usually virgin materials for these applications, but there is an increasing demand of recycled solutions as part of the people sustainability and environmental concerns.
Using recycled EPDM for the wearing top layer, requires however to have in mind some considerations.
First, the durability of areas using recycled products or mixes with high percentage of recycled materials is shorter than the durability achieved using virgin materials.
The best way to predict durability is to measure abrasive resistance and wear by any of the standard methods using wear cycles by some kind of device under an specific load and number of cycles and measuring the material lost from this wearing effect.
For applications of heavy use and high wear, the surface will probably need repairs after a couple of years because of some granules crumbling.
Second and related to the first one, the percentage of polyurethane binder used should be higher than the typically used for virgin granules to increase the lifespan of the surface.
We usually recommend an increase of 2-5% binder proportion to ensure good tensile properties and durability of the surface.
Before recommending a recycled material, supplier must perform extensive mechanical and chemical tests to ensure the product is suitable for a flooring application and meets all requirements for health and environmental standards and rules.
Take care
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