Climate, environment, sustainability: challenges regarding the construction and planning of play areas

© Gabi D / stock.adobe.com

For two thirds of the population, the consideration of environmental and climate protection is fundamental regarding future tasks and challenges. There is much support for more environmental and climate protection. So how is the industry of playground equipment and recreational facilities addressing these issues?

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) regularly publishes the results of its representative survey on environmental awareness in Germany together with the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). 

Among the problems Germany will be facing in the coming years, environmental and climate protection are the main challenges for people. It can be seen that its importance has increased in the perception of the population: While in 2016 around half of all respondents stated that environmental and climate protection was a very important challenge, in 2018 this figure was significantly higher at 64 percent, as well as in 2019 at 68 percent.

However, the environmental quality in Germany is assessed worse than in previous studies. In 2019, a total of 76 percent of respondents rate the environmental quality in their own city or municipality as very good or quite good, compared to 60 percent for Germany as a whole. Both the local and the nationwide assessment was several percentage points lower in 2019 and 2018 compared to 2016. There is a particular divergence in the assessment of environmental quality between Germany and abroad. For example, only 7 percent rate the global environmental quality as good, while 93 percent rate it as rather poor or even bad.

The following three aspects are most important to the respondents with regard to the energy transition, in descending order: a significant and rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, a fair distribution of costs and positive effects on economic development in Germany.

The commitment of central actors to environmental and climate protection was rated significantly worse in 2018 and 2019 than in previous surveys. Only 18 percent of respondents in 2019 thought that the federal government was doing enough for environmental and climate protection. Eleven percent think that the industry is doing enough, and 27 percent of the respondents think that the citizens are doing enough to protect the environment.

Climate, environment, sustainability: How does the playground equipment and leisure facilities industry address these issues?

Tilo Eichinger, company eibe Produktion + Vertrieb GmbH & Co. KG:

"As a wood-processing company, sustainability has always been an integral part of our corporate philosophy anyway. However, environmental goals were already established and assigned to binding targets at the end of the 1980s. The conservation of resources, saving water, electricity, oil and other materials as well as the question of how to procure raw materials in an environment friendly way have since been given increasing priority and are monitored by the management. 

At eibe, sustainability already starts with the product development. The main material for eibe's play worlds is wood, that is to say a CO²-neutral, resource-saving raw material. Every piece of wooden play equipment acts like a CO² battery, it stores the carbon that the tree has extracted from the atmosphere over the entire product life cycle. We obtain our wood exclusively from sustainable forestry. The 100-percent- FSC® certificate stands for Chain of Custody - which refers to a continuous sustainability from the forest up to the end product. Waste wood from production is used in the company's own heating system. In this way 90% of the company's heating demand is covered. Extensive investments in modern production processes have increased material efficiency and significantly reduced energy and water consumption as well as emissions and waste.
Already from the very beginning, we have been a member of the Bavarian Environmental Pact. The certification according to ISO 14001 and the validation by the European environmental management system EMAS certify that eibe makes an effective contribution to environmental protection within all company areas.
Our next goal in terms of eco-balance is that eibe wants to be climate neutral by the end of 2022. However, we would very much like the issue of environmental protection to be given much more weight in tenders. In fact, it does not as much as it should. Although with an increasing tendency, customers unfortunately still too seldom include sustainability criteria as decisive criteria in their purchase decision.
 All facts and figures can be found in the eibe 2021 Environmental Statement at www.eibe.de".

Karl Köhler, company Berliner Seilfabrik GmbH & Co.:

"The endeavour to build durable "play equipment for life" that will last for generations and is created in the course of a sustainable production process is a central part of the vision of our business activity. To achieve this objective, we only use high-quality materials which are processed in the best possible and sustainable way. At the same time, a large part of the raw materials we use are recycled. All our production takes place without PVC and our powder coating plant does not use any solvents. All our products meet or exceed the regulations for lead in paints and other materials as well as the guidelines for plasticisers. In addition, we often use bamboo instead of wood. Bamboo panels are stronger and more durable than wood, and bamboo also has a much better energy balance. 

Berliner Seilfabrik is certified according to the ISO 14001 environmental management standard and has been awarded the BSFH seal of approval for tested competence, sustainability and quality. It is our declared aim to continue exceeding the specifications of these awards in the future by producing durable play equipment in an environment friendly and resource-saving way."

Marco Bräuß, company Hahn Kunststoffe GmbH:

"There are many factors that make a product sustainable. The Blue Angel eco-label - seal of the Ministry of the Environment is based on whether resources are saved during production, if products are made from raw materials that are produced in a sustainable way, and whether they can be easily recycled or are particularly durable. Our hanit® material fulfils all these criteria, as a result of which we have been awarded once again this year the Federal Government's eco-label. Sustainability and environmental protection are in general particularly important to us at Hahn Kunststoffe. That is why we are continuously trying to improve and reconcile factors of sustainability with economic efficiency in the best possible way:
We don't process raw materials such as petroleum when producing our recycling material, we just use plastic from household and production waste. hanit® recycling plastic thus consists of 100% recycled plastic - material from the so-called "yellow bag".
However, we have already been implementing a special process to clean the material for over 25 years to save resources. This is because our hanit® is cleaned mechanically and dry during production, not with water. Through this special cleaning process, we don't just save considerable amounts of water, but also a high amount of energy, as we do not have to dry the material.
In addition, we generally work as resource-efficiently as possible when producing end products such as benches, tables and sandboxes.

In this way, production residues and cuttings are collected and returned to the production cycle. In addition, we are continuously improving our production processes by constantly expanding our energy and environmental management systems, which are certified according to DIN EN ISO 50001 and ISO 14001, and thus, for example, further reducing the amount of energy used per tonne of hanit® step by step.
Another important aspect for us in terms of sustainability is the quality and long service life of our products. From particularly short-life raw materials such as disposable plastic products or plastic packaging, we create new products that can be used for decades. Because of its special material properties, hanit® is particularly resistant, rot-proof and break-proof, and therefore requires very low-maintenance while at the same time it is especially durable.
 For us at Hahn Kunststoffe, sustainability is not a marketing campaign. It is a practised economic principle."

Marc Oelker, company SIK-Holzgestaltungs GmbH:

"The destruction of our environment is increasing, climate is changing and some species are disappearing. What can we do to counteract this trend? SIK-Holzgestaltungs GmbH has been addressing these issues for many years. Our philosophy is based on the idea of sustainability and our products made of robinia wood stand for an ecologically oriented future. We are certified with the environmental seal and CO2 neutrality and follow the rules of the FSC© and PEFC©. We support young people and teach them global responsibility. This responsibility is also reflected in the playgrounds we have already built. Upcycling is not just a word for us. Whenever possible, we also act accordingly. Just recently, we were able to provide the over 20-year-old play area on Georg Freudendorfer Platz in Munich with new shine. Parts of old playgrounds have also been integrated into projects such as the play landscape which is currently under construction for the trade fair LAGA2022 in Beelitz and thus rescued from senseless disposal. This is our contribution to making our world a place worth living in and a place of hope, also for future generations.

Ulrich Scheffler, company Kaiser & Kühne Freizeitgeräte GmbH:

"The service life, durability and permanent functionality of our playground equipment are calculated for at least 30 years. In this way the repeated purchase of equipment can be avoided which at the same time has very positive effects on the environment, climate and sustainability. Our stainless steel and laminated robinia materials are also recyclable. The reduction of environmental impacts as well as cost-oriented sustainability are, in the sense of "total cost of ownership", important criteria to the decision of many of our customers when buying function-oriented playground equipment.

Both our certification according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, FSC and the Scandinavian Eco-label have positively aligned our company with climate impact and sustainability. The certificate of the Gemeinwohlökonomie GWÖ confirms our sustainable positive impact on the common good of society, also and especially in cooperation with our municipal partners. Even our parcel shipping is climate neutral according to the GLS ClimateProtect Certificate. 

In addition, our change to renewable energy sources by providing our employees with e-bikes and other accompanying initiatives underline our orientation towards a common and sustainable future. However, we are striving for further improvement every day. “

Johannes Maier, company Eurotramp GmbH:

"Eurotramp GmbH has been pursuing an intensive sustainability strategy for years. We have been environmentally certified in accordance with DIN ISO 14001 for many years and have been awarded by the state of Baden-Württemberg for our resource-efficient production. Our sustainability strategy includes resource efficiency in purchasing, procurement logistics, production methods, distribution logistics as well as regarding the recycling of goods after the use phase. 

Our environment-oriented business activities are based on the durability of all products, the long-term and reliable supply of spare parts, as well as the extensive use of regenerative energies in production. We ourselves currently generate more than 90 % of the electrical energy we need. The consumption of electrical energy is reduced through the consistent use of energy-saving lighting and production systems. 

Large parts of the products, in particular the metal components, can be introduced into the reuse cycles without restriction at the end of their technical service life. As a company, we also make consistent use of digital possibilities which help to achieve resource conservation in advertising, production and communication. 

Our aspiration for the coming years is to consistently continue and further develop this path we have chosen towards an environmentally oriented production method. “

Mario Hampel, company ESF Emsland Spiel- und Freizeitgeräte GmbH & Co KG:

"The sustainable use of resources in the production of our playground equipment and the implementation of an environmentally conscious attitude in our daily operations have been part of our corporate mission statement already for years. For example, the wood for our play equipment comes from sustainable forestry and we only purchase certified steel to guarantee a sustainable use of particularly scarce resources. Our main materials, such as wood, steel, stone and concrete are all recyclable materials.

Regarding our play equipment with light or sound which requires electricity for this purpose, we generally promote those variants through which the energy can be generated by the players themselves, supported by dynamo technology.

In addition, we use green electricity for our office buildings and production halls, all light bulbs have been replaced by LEDs and our vehicle fleet mainly consists of electric vehicles.

For us, the meaning of sustainability also includes healthy employees. This is supported by providing our employees with job bikes to cycle to work, an offer, which is put into practice by most of them.

Bit by bit, we are working to reduce our ecological footprint. For the future, we are planning a new solar concept to cover our energy needs within the company. In addition, we are gradually working towards our major goal, the paperless office, which is expected to be completely implemented in the next three years. However, the advanced digitisation also helps to save working hours and resources. “

Steffen Strasser, company Playparc Allwetter-Freizeit-Anlagenbau GmbH:

"Sustainability is a very important aspect for a company dealing with the design and production of playground and outdoor fitness equipment. After all, we both shape the future for our children and create exercise opportunities for many people. At Playparc, we look at sustainability in different ways. In the area of raw material use, for example, we use local wood from a maximum radius of 300 km or FSC-certified wood for our wooden products. Regarding resource consumption during production, we have been producing solar power since the beginning of this year. A new photovoltaic system on our premises produces the electricity consumed by our machines, forklifts, computers, etc. In the course of renovation work, our production halls were completely insulated to reduce heating energy consumption. Currently we are preparing a report on sustainability which will be published in the second half of the year."

Jörn Schäfer, company Spiel-Bau GmbH:

"As a producer of individual and unusual play equipment for children, the topics of "climate, environment and sustainability" are particularly important to us. Because the children are our future! Thus it is all the more important to preserve their future habitat when creating new playground equipment. Those who do not act according to this maxim in the industry are enriching themselves at the expense of our children and their future. For many years, we have been involved in various projects and initiatives to increase our sustainability and to preserve the climate and the environment. We also actively involve our trainees in such projects.

However, we avoid the use of plastic products whenever possible.

We only use wood from sustainable forestry according to the PEFC certification.

We operate our production and part of our vehicle fleet with the help of our own solar panels.

We heat our production and administration buildings exclusively with wood residues from the production process.

We produce happiness! Because play equipment and devices both produce joy and at the same time protect the planet on which our children live."

Katrin Pogan, Öcocolor GmbH & Co. KG:

"With our natural fall protection material, our company Öcocolor has been contributing to environmental protection and sustainability for over 20 years. As our woodchips are made from renewable raw materials, they can still be used even after they have been used as fall protection, for example as mulch material in plantations. So they are easily disposed of. However, the advantage of choosing woodchips instead of other natural fall protection materials, is that this decision helps to conserve the valuable resources of sand and gravel, because these materials are urgently required by the construction industry. Due to the construction boom of recent years, the demand for these materials has increased dramatically and they are among the most mined raw materials - but they are not infinitely available to us.

In addition, wood is also a CO2-neutral material, because at the end of its life, when it decomposes, it only releases as much CO2 as the tree bound during its growth phase.

In order to take the next step towards climate protection and sustainability, we are currently investing in a photovoltaic system in our largest production facility so that in the future the production line for our woodchips can be powered by green electricity. “