Colorized Mulch: Wood vs. Rubber

Whether you own a tub grinder and recycle wood waste or own a tire shredder and recycle tires you still have an end product that you must sale or dispose of. One opportunity that many recyclers are venturing into today’s market is the colored mulch. As many of you have probably seen, many landscape professionals and everyday people are using a form of colorized mulch to improve the appearance of yards and gardens. You see it being used on the sides of major freeways and mall parking lots.

There are basically 2 types of colorized mulch available. One being the traditional wood mulch. Here wood waste is ground down by using a tub grinder, horizontal grinder, or other type of wood grinder. Here it will be either a nugget or splintered size. This material is then processed through a mulch colorizing unit to the most common brown, red or green colors.

The second type of colored mulch is rubber mulch. This mulch is most frequently being produce from the recycling of used tires. A tire recycler will take used tires and process them through many different machines. They will do this typically by using a tire shredder, granulator, screens, and magnets. This product will be ¾” to ½” in size. They too will then process this material through a colorizing unit.

Some advantages and disadvantages of these 2 different types of mulch include: Wood mulch will normally have to be replaced on a yearly basis. Rubber mulch will theoretically last forever besides some fading in color. Both products form a protection barrier for school and park playgrounds to help reduce injuries from children falling. Rubber provides a better protection though.

Here at URC we can provide you with all the equipment necessary new or used to get you into the wood or rubber mulch business. Checkout our website https://www.urcrecycle.com or give us a phone call at 660-295-4204 or email at sales@urcrecycle.com