By: Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff, Go Green Director at KOMPAN
The footprint of a playground
Playgrounds are an integral part of urban landscapes and local communities around the world. However, in an era where the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly visible, it is necessary to consider how playgrounds are impacting our planet. As our expert explains in this article, one phase of a playground’s life cycle in particular accounts for most of the environmental footprint.
Více než jen místo pro hraní dětí
Playgrounds are more than just a place for children to play, learn and develop their skills. Behind the swings and slides lies the reality that playgrounds have a deep environmental footprint. From the moment raw materials are extracted to the time when the play equipment needs to be discarded, each phase of a playground’s life cycle poses a potential challenge to our environment.
– We’re seeing more and more signs that business as usual, where we extract virgin resources only to use them once and then discard them, is not sustainable, says Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff, Go Green Director at KOMPAN. Dorthe has been leading the company’s efforts to map the climate and environmental impact of KOMPAN’s playgrounds.
– To make fundamental changes, you need to look at the entire life cycle of your products. It’s not enough to cherry-pick the parts of your value chain where you perform most favourably. From the beginning, we decided on a complete and transparent account of how our business impacts our climate, she explains.
“To make fundamental changes, you need to look at the entire life cycle of your products.”
Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff, Go Green Director at KOMPAN
The climate culprits exposed
KOMPAN chose the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) to map the company’s impact on global warming. The GHG Protocol helps organisations focus their efforts on areas where they can make the most significant impact on reducing their carbon footprint. The protocol divides emissions into three "scopes":
Scope 1: These are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, such as fuels burned in company vehicles or furnaces.
Scope 2: This covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, such as electricity or heating that a company buys and uses.
Scope 3: These are all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain, including both upstream and downstream emissions. This can include anything from the production of purchased materials, to waste disposal, employee commuting, and the use of products and services sold.
Závěr
After mapping all emissions there was no longer any doubt as to where the climate footprint of a playground stems from:
– Approximately 80 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions are a result of our use of raw materials in Scope 3, says Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff. In other words, the lion’s share of a playground’s climate footprint is caused by the extraction and processing of virgin resources to produce materials such as steel, aluminium and plastic.
“The lion’s share of a playground’s climate footprint is caused by the extraction and processing of virgin resources to produce materials such as steel, aluminium and plastic.“
Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff, Go Green Director at KOMPAN
Raw materials with obvious benefits
There are good reasons as to why modern playgrounds rely so heavily on steel, aluminium and plastic. These raw materials have come to dominate playgrounds around the globe because of their many advantages over the playground materials they have replaced:
– Before steel and plastic, playgrounds were often made from plywood: a material that needs to be painted and varnished for it to last, explains Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff. By contrast steel, aluminium and plastic are extremely durable and require little or no maintenance. The materials also have added safety benefits because of their strength and durability.
To summarise, there is a very long list of requirements for any new and greener playground material, as both steel, aluminium and plastic have numerous benefits in creating lasting playground experiences. Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon. Innovations in more sustainable designs and materials are increasingly shaping the playgrounds of the future.
Innovations in more sustainable designs and materials are increasingly shaping the playgrounds of the future.
Long-term solutions
Despite the size of the challenge, KOMPAN has worked hard to develop material replacement solutions with a reduced carbon footprint.
However, when building a greener playground, it is not enough to consider the materials themselves. It is also important to consider how much material is needed and how it affects the lifespan of the playground:
– It goes without saying that the less material you use, the less CO2 you emit. But less material also leads to more fragile constructions, says Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff, and she adds that KOMPAN always thoroughly tests any new playground material and solution. You can read more about that here.
Dorthe also highlights another consideration when developing greener replacement material. The materials should be easy to dismantle and reuse when the playground reaches the end of its lifespan:
– Our recycled plastic can be easily separated and dismantled, making it easy to sort, dispose of and recycle, she explains. She also highlights that the plastic is almost maintenance-free.
Transparency is key
When choosing a greener playground solution, it is important to know the climate impact of the playground equipment.
Since 2021, KOMPAN has made it possible to receive documentation on the full carbon footprint of a standard product together with CO2e/kg and the recycled percentage of the total product to make it easy to compare with other types of products.
The information is available in KOMPAN’s standard product sheets, which include the total CO2e consumption. The calculation method has been third-party validated by Bureau Veritas.
– Transparency through quantifiable data is key to making more sustainable choices, and I believe this is what we in the industry will have to base most of our sustainable decisions on going forward, concludes Dorthe Thorup-Kjærulff, Go Green Director at KOMPAN.
Otázky a odpovědi k uhlíkové stopě
Co znamená CO2e?
Ekvivalent oxidu uhličitého" nebo "CO2e" je termín pro popis různých skleníkových plynů ve společné jednotce. Pro jakékoliv množství a typ skleníkového plynu znamená CO2e množství CO2, které by mělo ekvivalentní dopad na globální oteplování.
Co znamená jednotka CO2e?
Ekvivalent oxidu uhličitého neboli CO2e znamená počet metrických tun emisí CO2 se stejným potenciálem globálního oteplování jako jedna metrická tuna jiného skleníkového plynu. Vypočítává se pomocí rovnice A-1 v 40 CFR Part 98.
Jak se počítají emise uhlíku u našich výrobků?
Výpočet CO2e a údaje využívají principy dopadu uhlíkové stopy podle protokolu GHG (Greenhouse Gas Protocol), Scope 3, cradle to gate (od kolébky až po bránu), vztahující se ke všem jednotlivým komponentům v kategorii výrobků. Emise v rozsahu 3 zahrnují zdroje emisí v předcházejícím a navazujícím hodnotovém řetězci. Celkovým rámcem uplatňovaným pro tyto faktory je Environmentální prohlášení o produktu (EPD), které kvantifikuje "environmentální informace o životním cyklu produktu a umožňuje porovnávat produkty plnící stejnou funkci" (ISO, 2006). Ta se řídí strukturou a uplatňuje přístup posuzování životního cyklu na celou fázi výrobku, od surovin až po výrobu (A1-A3).
Co je protokol o skleníkových plynech?
Protokol o skleníkových plynech zavádí komplexní globální standardizované rámce pro měření a řízení emisí skleníkových plynů (GHG) z operací soukromého a veřejného sektoru, hodnotových řetězců a zmírňujících opatření.
Co jsou to emise skleníkových plynů?
Skleníkové plyny zadržují v atmosféře teplo (dlouhovlnné záření) a udržují zemský povrch teplejší, než by byl, kdyby nebyly přítomny. Tyto plyny jsou základní příčinou skleníkového efektu, který způsobuje globální oteplování, a tím i změnu klimatu.
Co znamená kg CO2e / kg?
Použijeme celkové emise CO2e pro daný výrobek, vydělíme je celkovou hmotností výrobku a pak získáme vztah mezi hmotností a emisemi CO2e. Na základě této hodnoty můžete porovnávat výrobky různých velikostí a objemů.
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