How Tyre Wear Contributes to Microplastics
Launch library · evergreen read
As tyres roll along a road surface, friction gradually wears away small particles of rubber, a mix of natural and synthetic materials that then enter the surrounding environment through road dust, stormwater runoff and, to a lesser extent, airborne particles carried by wind and passing traffic.
This source of microplastics is often overlooked compared with more visible sources like packaging, yet tyre wear represents a genuinely significant and continuous contribution to microplastic pollution, simply because so many vehicles are in constant use on roads everywhere, generating this particular kind of particle every single day.
Reducing this particular source is considerably harder than reducing single use plastic, since it is an inherent byproduct of how tyres function rather than a separate, avoidable choice, meaning solutions tend to focus on tyre design, road surface improvements and stormwater filtration rather than simply asking people to drive their own cars a good deal less often.