Apollo Tyres is giving tires a second life and giving back to local communities by building playgrounds for children. The tiremaker recently inaugurated two tire playgrounds in villages outside Chennai.
“Very soon India will have 100 million+ end-of-life tires every year, without proper mechanisms in place to recycle or dispose off these tires,” said Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Apollo Tyres Ltd. “We have been working towards tackling this issue of discarded tires. 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 tires.”
Each playground uses nearly 200 end-of-life tires. The tiremaker is exploring replicating its playground efforts across the country, Apollo said.
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, with the villages around Apollo Tyres’ manufacturing facilities, as the first targets.
“Apart from making use of end-of-life tires, these Go The Distance playgrounds also provides a platform for the children from these villages to improve upon their agility and activeness, while sensitizing them on the concept of reuse and recycle,” Sharma shared.
