EarthTalk - What are we doing to fix tire waste?

Title card for the EarthTalk environmental column showing a green glass globe.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss

Dear EarthTalk:

Old tire waste is a big problem. What are we doing to fix it?

D.R. via email

Tires often pose deadly health and environmental risks if not properly disposed of. Instead of being considered municipal solid waste, tire waste is classified as special waste because it has the potential to release dangerous chemicals and, therefore, requires careful handling.

Each year, approximately 3 billion tires are produced worldwide. The production process requires large amounts of fossil fuels, water and space to grow natural rubber. In addition, the manufacture of tires itself releases chemicals, including 6PPD-quinone, zinc, lead, copper and nitrosamines, that are toxic. As for their end of life, some 1.5 billion tires globally reach the destruction stage annually. At that point, tires are often either burned for fuel (releasing fine particulate matter) or recycled.

While some tire waste is unavoidable, excessive amounts of it can cause negative environmental and human impacts. Most notably, large piles of rubber tire waste can catch on fire and burn and smolder for long periods, releasing toxic fumes into the air. They can also gather water due to their shape and as such becoming a breeding ground for unwanted wildlife, including mosquitoes and snakes. Not to mention, tires are difficult to recycle as they are made through a vulcanization process to maximize sturdiness, making it difficult to remold and melt.

To combat excessive tire waste, there are already many current and emerging processes used around the world. Tire-derived fuel is used to generate power and manufacture materials such as concrete or paper. By doing so, it not only saves carbon emissions for producing other kinds of fuel but also reduces the number of used tires. Another current strategy is rubber recycling, which can be divided into crumb rubber, which is used to make concrete and asphalt, or TDA, which is often used as backfill for walls and landfills as it is much larger. Currently, “there is a potential for up to 2,000 tire recycling plants around the world,” says Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum, a European recycling firm.

As for future initiatives, many experts have recommended extended producer responsibility, which is when producers are responsible for products when they reach end–of-life, carried out by tire companies to create a more sustainable cycle. At the same time, there is continued research on looking for alternatives to rubber in tires, which is the main hazardous material, as they ensure safety. In the future, government regulation can play an influential role in controlling the amount of tire waste allowed.

As for ordinary citizens, they can play their role in reducing tire waste by ensuring their tires are properly inflated and rotated, which will decrease the number of tires they use. When tires reach their end of life, owners should recycle them rather than throwing them away or into wrong categories. When buying new tires, people can promote sustainability by supporting companies that publicly announce their use of sustainable materials, recycled tires, or retreaded tires.

CONTACTS

EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for the 501(c)3 nonprofit EarthTalk. See more at https://emagazine.com. To donate, visit https//earthtalk.org. Send questions to: question@earthtalk.org.