Old tires and tree trunks are getting a second life in Toluca, where municipal workers are turning recovered materials into playground equipment, benches and tables for the city’s parks.
Workers and neighborhood residents installed the equipment at Vicente Guerrero Park last month, creating a test site for a program officials hope to expand to schools and other public spaces in the capital of México state.
(Crisanta Espinosa Aguilar / Cuartoscuro.com)
The park’s new amenities were made by municipal public services employees using materials recovered through local waste collection and recycling efforts.
Public services director Gustavo Anaya Maya said the tires, discarded furniture and tree trunks were collected through events in Toluca’s 48 districts and at 12 collection centers.
From there, they went to a municipal workshop, where employees turn them into benches, tables and playground equipment.
The broader program began in the second quarter of 2026. By September, workers had produced 10 tables, 15 playground sets, 15 benches and a bamboo house, according to the news website Plana Mayor.
Materials include trunks, logs and trimmings from authorized tree pruning and removal; reclaimed wood; old tires; recycled plastics; and recovered metal.
Installation has begun in parks and gardens across Toluca, about 50 minutes west of Mexico City via a new passenger railway.
Anaya Maya said expansion would depend on public response. If schools embrace the initiative, parents could receive training to build furniture and playground equipment, with the city supplying materials.
He said the effort also aims to keep discarded materials out of rivers and canals and reduce tire burning.
Toluca is not alone.
In San Pedro Mixtepec, Oaxaca, the recently opened La Tortuga playground features equipment containing 80% recovered plastic — an amount equivalent to about 60,000 bottles.
Mexico City’s Cuitláhuac Park offers a larger precedent.
Built on a former landfill, Cuitláhuac Park’s redevelopment incorporated recycled construction debris and plastics into paths, ground stabilization and other infrastructure. The final phase opened in 2023, showing how recovered materials can support playground projects beyond equipment, benches and tables.
With reports from El Sol de Toluca, Plana Mayor and EJE Central
