Apollo Tyres uses end-of-life radials to create playgrounds in Chennai villages

Apollo Tyres has opened two new 'Tyre Playgrounds' near Chennai. What's different about these playgrounds is that they have been created using worn-out or end-of-life tyres (ELT) for the kids of Senakuppam and Vallakottai villages, just outside Chennai.

Satish Sharma, president, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Apollo Tyres, inaugurated the playgrounds, located inside the community schools, along with with the head of the local panchayats and the school headmasters. 

Commenting on the initiative, Satish Sharma said, “As per research commissioned by us, very soon India will have over 100 million end-of-life tyres every year, without proper mechanisms in place to recycle or dispose these tyres. As a responsible company, we have been working towards tackling this issue of discarded tyres. From expanding our retreading footprint, to the launch of Go The Distance pitch in Old Trafford, UK, and now these play structures, all showcase ways we have been working towards the reuse or recycling of discarded tyres.”

Each of these playgrounds has been created using nearly 200 radial tyres, under company’s umbrella environment initiative, ‘Habitat Apollo’. Depending on the success of this pilot project of creating play structures using worn-out tyres, the company will look at replicating it at multiple locations across the country, first with the villages around Apollo Tyres’ manufacturing facilities.

The two village schools in Senakuppam and Vallakottai were identified for the Tyre Playgrounds, as they lacked play structures. Structures like monkey-climb, swing and ropeway have been created using the worn-out tyres. “Apart from making use of end-of-life tyres, these Go The Distance playgrounds also provides a platform for the children from these villages to improve upon their agility and activeness, while sensitising them on the concept of reuse and recycle,” added Sharma.

It is known that discarded tyres or end-of-life tyres, in India, are increasingly being consumed by the environmentally hazardous so-called pyrolysis units in the unorganised sector. The other common usages of such tyres are:
- Partially better tyres are refurbished (retreaded or patched using gaiters) and sold in Tier 2 cities. 
- Also used for engineering recovery, where in the crumb or reclaim rubber is extracted for reuse. 
- In case nothing works, tyres are sent to brick kilns to be used as fuel.