Members of the Tire Industry Project (TIP) have revealed the latest results of ongoing international research projects, which have studied the potential health and environmental impacts of tires.
TIP’s recent work, built on past findings and emerging issues, has focused in several key areas. Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) continued to be studied in various environments, including air, water and sediment. Based on a comprehensive risk assessment, the studies demonstrated that TRWP are considered safe for human health and the environment, supporting earlier research results.
TIP published a report on end-of-life tires (ELT), which included management methods, recovery routes, recovery rates in 51 countries (approximately 89% of the world’s vehicles), and presented several new beneficial uses of ELT.
Members of the TIP have set a forward-looking agenda for new and continuing work. First, a portion of that work will focus on efforts to bring sustainable natural rubber closer to reality. Much work has already been done to identify best practices for responsible sourcing of natural rubber, and now TIP will endeavor to identify the most effective ways to achieve these common goals, including evaluating sustainability best practices, and identifying appropriate governance structures and potential platforms. Secondly, TIP will expand its TRWP pathways work to study emerging information, such as that related to the presence of microplastics in the world’s oceans.
December 7, 2017
