AFTER THE PLASTIC RUNNING TRACKS and playgrounds in several schools in Shenzhen, Beijing and Hangzhou, were found to be hazardous to pupils' health, an in-depth report has uncovered an underground chain that recycles used tires without properly processing them. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

The story behind the manufacturing of hazardous playgrounds, as revealed by China Central Television, is almost sickening. Underground workstations simply collect used tires and cables, mix them together and put the mixture into a machine to produce the plastic material used for running tracks and playgrounds.

Some experts have called for stricter laws to regulate the recycling of tires and cables. But by saying so they are looking in the wrong direction, because it is not a problem with recycling. The problem lies in schools and education authorities' failure to supervise the quality of the running tracks.