A special thank you to Adam Gosling from TyreSafe Australia for his valued contribution.
The Question
So your tyres wear out — ever wonder where that tread goes? Tyres play a paramount role in vehicle safety. When traversing a road, a vehicle’s tyres utilise friction with the road surface to maintain traction and ensure grip. While this is vital and cannot be compromised, a negative consequence is the tyre and road wear particles created by the abrasion that results from the friction boundary between the tyre and the road, creating what are known as tyre and road-related microplastics.
How Serious Is It?
Research shows tyre wear particles release more pollution than exhaust emissions, in fact up to “1000 times worse than exhaust emissions”, according to Emissions Analytics.
As decades of automotive R&D continue to reduce tailpipe emissions, brake and tyre wear particles now make up almost half of vehicle particle matter emissions. While positive change is occurring to reduce exhaust emissions in the industry, there is not the same focus on vehicle-related microplastic levels. It is likely more will need to be done in industry, such as reducing vehicle weight and lowering tyre abrasion levels to combat the pollution of tyre particulate.
