Can tires turn green?

[Backseat Driver]

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/cen-10117-cover
Alex Scott
C&EN, 2023, 101 (17), pp 28–34May 29, 2023


Rubber crumbs rain down onto more than 150 electric heating plates, raising their temperature to over 600 °C within seconds. In an atmosphere depleted of oxygen, the crumbs rapidly transform into a gas, which is cooled into a synthetic oil and a solid that is mostly carbon black. This process is at the heart of a continuous thermal pyrolysis technology being commercialized by the German start-up Pyrum Innovations to chemically recycle tires. It saves 72% of the carbon dioxide emissions that would have resulted from the existing systems for tire disposal and material recovery, the firm tells C&EN.
Demand for products from Pyrum and other chemical recyclers of tires is increasing and may one day divert millions of used tires from their most common destinations of landfill or incineration. Some 4 billion tires sit in landfills and stockpiles around the world, according to the Tire Industry Project, and they have the potential to catch fire and leach hazardous chemicals into the environment. The incineration of tires generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions.
In a second sustainability shift taking place in the life cycle of tires, manufacturers have started adopting lower-carbon production processes and are using increasing amounts of renewable materials—including those from the chemical recycling of tires.
But just as these activities start to promise substantial environmental benefits, a growing number of scientific studies indicate that tire and road wear particles (TRWPs)—generated when tires rub against the road—could be substantially harming the environment. Scientists at Imperial College London estimate that tires annually release 6 million metric tons (t) of TRWPs—typically linear particles 100 µm long—making it the second-largest source of microplastic pollution, after single-use plastics. (Read more)
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Happening soon in America?

[machoneman]

1. Don't forget brake pad & brake shoe dust on every roadside.

That dust I'm sure is harmful. At least today, the asbestos-laced brake shoe of the past are long gone. Still, tons of this dust are released on every road, urban, city and more.