Kentucky is spending just over 400 thousand dollars for rubber-based landscaping. The project will involve 39 playgrounds throughout the Commonwealth.
Gary Logsdon with the State Division of Waste Management says the mulch surfaces are being manufactured from crumb rubber and waste tires.
"It's a lot more durable. It looks great and it's really soft. You walk across it…it's like a pillow…it's spongy. It's works better than wood mulch,” says Logsdon.
Logsdon adds that Kentuckians generate about five million waste tires annually. He says the crumb rubber is also being examined as a material to incorporate more fully into the state's asphalt-based pavements.