Marine Gardens: how recycled trainers were put to use in Carrickfergus play park upgrade
Thousands of recycled trainers were given a new lease of life at a popular play park in Carrickfergus, the company behind its refurbishment has said.
Marine Gardens playpark reopened in June 2024 following a renonvation programme to provide new accessible and inclusive play equipment.
The contract to deliver the work at the seafront space was awarded to Garden Escapes, who have previously delivered a number of other play park upgrades in the borough.
Alongside a range of equipment by Proludic, GL Jones, and Fahr, the refurbishment also utilised new Nike Grind safety surfacing by Playtop Licensing Ltd, according to the company.
Nike Grind repurposes the brand’s materials and footwear, transforming a combination of fibres, foam and textiles into granules for play and sport surfacing.
In a post on their Facebook page, Garden Escapes said: “Some interesting analysis has been done on the Nike Grind used on our Marine Gardens project.
"For every square metre of Playtop Nike Grind blend surfacing we used at Marine Gardens, the rubber from 24 pairs of trainers was used.
"As we installed 550 square metres of Playtop Nike Grind, that means that the rubber from around 13,200 trainers was recycled at Marine Gardens!”
Meanwhile, the provision of a Changing Places unit was also included in the park’s refurbishment programme, along with measures to improve security, said Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
In 2021, CCTV and security patrols were deployed in the Marine Gardens area following a spate of vandalism attacks, which included multiple incidents of damage to equipment in the play park.