How Global Uncertainty Affects Your Playground

This is your biweekly dose of playground knowledge from someone who's spent 20 years inspecting them.

In this issue, I’ll do a deep dive into how events happening halfway across the world could impact the sticker price of the equipment you may be thinking of purchasing.

I’ll also unveil a new digital inspection toolkit that I hope will make inspections and playground maintenance more straightforward for newcomers and experienced inspectors alike.

All that and more lies ahead in The Playground Post.

Over the past two months, I’ve watched the economic ripple effects of the Iran War make their way into the playground industry. Things like increased freight costs and surcharges due to increased material costs are becoming more and more commonplace, and, for the most part, playground companies are implementing these out of necessity.

When it comes to freight, pretty much every playground in the US gets to its final destination via some type of gas-powered vehicle. And, whether it’s a semi truck, a box truck, or the back of a pickup truck, they all need fuel. With diesel prices reaching as high as $7.00 per gallon in some states, the difference has to be made up somewhere.

So, if you see increased overall costs or line-item freight surcharges, there’s a good chance high diesel is the cause.

The other lesser-known factor is the strain in global polyethylene supplies. In 2025, the Middle East accounted for 40% of global PE supplies, with Saudi Arabia leading the way as the top producer. With the strain of the war creating supply chain issues for products shipped out of the Middle East, it’s uncertain how long the price of HDPE will remain high.

High-density polyethylene is by far the most common plastic used in playground equipment today, but it’s not the only one. Materials like thermoplastic coating, sheet plastic, and even powder coat paint products are seeing Iran War-related upticks in cost as well.

Perhaps a deal gets made to end the war soon, or maybe not. I know I’m not the only one hoping everything gets back to normal soon, but either way, it’s best to be prepared for continued price and supply chain disruptions.

If you have playground equipment that’s on the verge of falling apart and you’ve been putting off replacing it, there may not be a better time than right now. While many in the playground industry have already implemented things like fuel surcharges, I think it’s smart to assume that those are just the beginning of price increases for commercial playground equipment. Even if the war ends, disruptions to material costs will likely continue.

To use an analogy that my readers in the southeastern US will understand: the water may be choppy right now, but it’s better than trying to navigate through a hurricane.

In the last issue, I discussed the importance of playground monitoring, and how important it is to have useful tools like the one I shared to keep your outdoor space safe.

This time around, I’m excited to share with you a whole kit of absolutely free digital tools 

True to its name, the Digital Inspection Toolkit includes a host of features designed to simplify the inspection process, from shareable inspection reports to AI-assisted hazard detection. Take a picture of any point on your playground, and the tool will tell you if any aspect is out of compliance with ASTM or CPSC regulations.

The Toolkit offers you a section-by-section inspection guide for ease of use.

Typical inspections are generally recorded on a notepad and paper. My tool takes you through the same 16-point checklist you’ve probably used when inspecting your own playground. You can customize it, add photos or documentation, and download the entire report as a PDF. The Digital Inspection Toolkit helps save you time while keeping all the pertinent details in one place. 

Monitoring and inspections are supposed to go hand-in-hand. The Digital Inspection Toolkit offers a way to ensure that they do.

If you’re looking to purchase a playground, ask yourself:

These are the sorts of questions that sometimes prove necessary to make playground plans come to life.

If you have any questions on how to get your playground to the finish line, reply to this email and I’ll give you my take.

A playground is a big purchase, and when it comes to completing a project, there’s no such thing as a dumb question.

Know someone who should be reading this? Share The Playground Post:

Talk soon,

Nic Breedlove

Certified Playground Safety Inspector

20 years in the game. Still learning.