ABC-Team is one of the leading manufacturers of outdoor playgrounds. On 24th September 2020 we visited the company's headquarters in Ransbach-Baumbach. Their playgrounds are mainly used in Germany, but can also be found in many other countries and are known for their possibility of individual design.

Production and Materials

We learned about the materials they use for the production. They use different kinds of wood, plastic, laminate (HPL), (stainless) steel and aluminium. Because of certain regulations it is not possible to only use metal or wood. For example, in the case of playgrounds for children under 2 years of age it is forbidden to use metal slides in order to prevent burns. It is not possible to use any metal slides in very warm and sunny areas either because they might get very hot. Furthermore, wood cannot be used for al parts because it tends to rot after a certain amount of time. Most of the materials used by ABC-Team come from Europe: The wood comes from Germany (Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate) and Hungary. The steel is predominatnly imported from China and Italy.

Packaging

A big problem for the manufacturer is the nitpicking of their customers. To avoid possible complaints, everything is packed very well. Furthermore, hauliers usually  refuse transporting goods that are not wrapped extraordinarily thoroughly because they themselves fear being blamed for possible shipping damage.

Apart from wood and cardboard, plastic is used a lot. Smaller single parts are wrapped in several layers of plastic foil, for example. This also holds true for the parts which are not produced by ABC-Team themselves but which are bought elsewhere, so a lot of plastic waste accumulates soon. Foils are collected separately, but the remaining plastic is thrown away unsorted because the company in charge of collecting the waste does not distinguish between different types of plastic - which is, according to ABC-Team, quite a pity and they would like to play their part in improving the recycling process.

Recycling

Moreover, we were told how the playground industry tries to recycle. In general playgrounds are very durable and sturdy, usually they last for at least 20-25 years (they would probably last for an even longer period of time, but usually, they are substitued earlier - often simply because of reasons of appearance).

When a new playground is planned and built, the old wood is often processed into wood chips which is then used as fall protection. In places where this is not possible, sand or gravel is used instead. Fall protection panels made from recycled car tyres are increasingly being used as well. Many municipalities also continue to reuse old stainless steel elements (such as slides) to reduce costs. Stainless steel parts can last for 200 years or longer but are very expensive.