From swimming pools to roller coasters to basketball backboards to playground equipment, if you're having fun, chances are performance plastics are along for the ride. Shatterproof, weather-resistant and available in any color, plastics keep recreation safe and durable.
Applications
- Swimming pools — water treatment, pool enclosures, diving boards, piping
- Snowmobiles — skis, slide suspensions, sprockets, fuel lines, windshields, bumpers, bearings and bushings
- Amusement park rides — signage, housings, wheels, bumpers/rub rails, benches, piping, canopies
- Bowling alleys — pin guides, kick plates, ball returns, rollers
- Reproductions of jukeboxes — windows, housings
- Hockey shielding and dasher systems
- Playground equipment
- Parks — picnic tables, basketball backboards
- Piping
- Waterslides
- Signage
- Skylights
Advantages May Include
- Lightweight, weather, UV, fire and chemical resistant
- Sound deadening/attenuation
- Impact and wear resistance
- Variety of rolling resistances, load-bearing capacities and hysteresis (for roller coaster designs)
- Shatterproof
- Easy to fabricate and thermoform
- Lower breakage means less replacement stock
- Available in many colors
- Allows maximum daylight into interior spaces
- Can withstand extreme temperatures
- Thermal insulation
- Reduces heat build-up in hot climates
- Less breakage means safer designs
Materials
- Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS)
- Acetal (POM)
- Acrylic (PMMA)
- High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
- Nylon (PA)
- Polycarbonate (PC)
- Polyethylene (PE)
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
- Polyurethane (PU/PUR)
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
- PVC/Acrylic Alloy
- Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE)
Sustainability Advantages of Performance Plastics
8-10 Years
Synthetic turf blades are made from polymers with recycled tire rubber as infill. It resembles grass, conserves water and lasts 8-10 years.
Source: stopwaste.org
500,000
One synthetic lawn sporting field can reduce water consumption by more than 500,000 gallons annually, conserving water and cutting bills.
Source: stopwaste.org
Recycled-content plastic lumber gives milk and water jugs a second life in recreation gear:
31,500-63,000
Jugs in one playground set
240
Jugs in one recycled armchair
Source: epa.gov / aaastateofplay.com
PPDI urethane doubled the wheel life of the Desperado roller coaster at Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino (Primm, NV) — with real annual savings:
$20,000
Saved per season on wheels
50%
Fewer wheels thrown away
Source: plasticsnews.com
Yellowstone Old Faithful Boardwalks
3,000,000
Plastic milk jugs recycled into the walkways
The boardwalks around the Old Faithful Geyser are made from recycled plastic equal to 3,000,000 milk jugs — lower footprint, protecting visitors and natural spaces while improving accessibility. | Source: thisisplastics.com
iapd
the performance plastics association
Sustainability
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