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Comment by sparsely | Hacker News Reader

There have been a number of reports of components of rubber tiers being harmful to humans[1] or the broader environment[2] beyond the waste issue, would be interesting to know if these manage to improve on that.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/11/pollutin... [2] https://www.opb.org/article/2020/12/04/scientists-point-to-c...

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If it's biodegradable, that would help. Only what remains of the tires ends up in landfills/recycled. The rest is a major contributor to microplastics in our oceans. The tires don't just erode into nothing. Those particles (mixed with particles from the road service) become dust that ends up in sewers when it rains, which drain to rivers, which drain to oceans. By the time the tire is used up, we're talking a sizable amount of material. Vulcanized rubber is nasty; it doesn't really break down (that is the whole point of vulcanizing) that easily and is also toxic.

Dust generally is bad, too.

EDITING to provide source because I was downvoted. All types, including rail dust: https://www.railway-technology.com/features/feature-air-in-u...

Has anyone done analysis on microplastics to figure out what percentage are from vulcanized rubber? It's probably a high percentage, but would be nice to have an actual scientific study on the figure.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/tires...

Several studies apparently. 10-30 percent depending on the study.

Can vulcanized rubber be broken down by something like Hydrous pyrolysis?

I don't know enough about chemical engineering, but there was a tyre recycling company called Pyrolyx AG that went bankrupt last year. I think they were doing something along the lines of what you're talking about but they failed to commercialize and the pandemic accelerated their demise.

This is one of the many reasons I'm firmly in the "urbanization or bust" camp. Rail-based infrastructure is lower-carbon, doesn't require batteries, and doesn't require tires, but it's only practical in high-density cities. Streetcar suburbs represent a reasonable minimum.

I don't really see how that is possible, biodegradable tires sounds like a really bad idea.

I guess you could look for a material that becomes biodegradable after wearing down. Does anything like that exist in any form at the moment?

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