What if we told you those tires on your car could be recycled into the tires of the future? Well, thanks to a technique that's been around for thousands of years, your old wheels might keep on turning.
When tires reach the end of the road, they pose a tricky disposal problem. That's because they're loaded with carbon-rich rubber and tough-to-recycle petrochemicals.
But one scientist plans to steer all that waste in a greener direction, according to Tech Xplore.
Jean-Michel Douarre, a sustainable materials expert at Michelin, is revving up efforts to reuse tire scraps through a process called pyrolysis. It's an age-old method that turns organic matter into charcoal using high heat and no oxygen. And Douarre thinks it could be just the ticket for detoxing and recycling old tires.
His team discovered they can "pressure cook" tire bits to produce large amounts of oil similar to fossil fuel. They then used this oil to create a fresh batch of carbon black — a key ingredient that makes up about a quarter of every tire.
Carbon black is normally made from polluting petroleum. Douarre's process cleans it up and keeps it in rotation.
Also, the gas created as a byproduct can power the whole operation, while excess oil is turned into other useful products. While the process isn't pollution-free, it's a win-win compared to conventional tire-production methods.
A bus tire made from recycled carbon black has already hit the road for testing — and its performance was on par with conventional tires.
When you consider that Europe alone produces about 3.5 million tons of used tires every year, the potential for positive change is huge. Right now, most recycled tires get downcycled into things like playground flooring or road-building material. But Douarre and his team at BlackCycle want to see 100% of old tires reborn as new tires.
Meanwhile, another petrochemical player called Repsol has other big plans: transforming plastics. They want to combine sky-high pyrolysis temperatures with clean electricity to recycle even the most challenging plastics into raw materials for fresh plastic.
Rebeca Yuste, a circular economy expert at Repsol, is leading the charge. "We are going to multiply the capacity by 100," she said. Compared to today's methods, Repsol's process could slash pollution by a whopping 70%.
These innovators are turning one of our biggest pollution problems into one of our brightest hopes for a cleaner tomorrow. And they're just getting into gear.
So the next time your tires get tired, they might come back to life in ways that take some pressure off the planet.
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet.
Cool Picks
