The tire, made from rubber, is one of the most abundant materials in landfills around the world and one of the largest contributors to global pollution.
To understand the importance of this material and the impact it creates on planet Earth, we must ask ourselves a series of questions: what are they made of? What does their manufacture entail? What happens when they are no longer useful? And the most important of all, why do they pollute? In addition, we resolve the big question: how can we make their recycling possible?
Today, tires are made up of 19% natural rubber, 24% synthetic rubber, and the remaining percentage is made up of metal and other materials such as carbon black, textiles, zinc oxide, sulfur and additives. More than 100 different chemical compounds go into making up a tire.
In terms of environmental impact, it involves devastating ongoing deforestation as well as the use of harmful fossil fuels during the manufacturing process, which consumes around 32 litres of oil, while trucks consume 100 litres.
A tire is no longer useful when its rubber wears out. The problem is that in this process, plastic polymers are released and end up in seas and oceans, polluting them.
All these plastics that end up suspended in seas and oceans affect both flora and fauna. Specifically, in fauna, they remain stagnant, for example, in their gills or end up in their guts.
Another option is burning tyres, which, although there are facilities where it is safely controlled, if it is not done with the necessary measures, has a great impact on the environment, since during the process, zinc and chlorine are released. The reality is that this burning is usually uncontrolled, since landfills want to get rid of tyres at all costs without it being a great expense.
Once we know this information, we must be clear that; although tires are a great source of pollution, either due to the plastic they release or by burning them, they can also be recycled to give them a second life and reduce their impact on the environment. At Parafina we have been aware of the impact of this material and for this reason they have created Parafina sunglasses. Recycled Rubber , made from the rubber used to make tires, making this collection one of the most resistant and flexible.
