Tires, One Of The Major Contributors To World Pollution - Parafina Eyewear

Tires, One Of The Major Contributors To World Pollution

Tires, made from rubber, are one of the most abundant materials in landfills around the world and a major contributor 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 production involve? What happens when they are no longer useful? And the most important of all, why do they pollute? In addition, we solve the big question: how can we make it possible to recycle them?

Tires currently consist of 19% natural rubber, 24% synthetic rubber and the remaining percentage corresponds to metal and other materials such as carbon black, textile, zinc oxide, sulfur and additives. More than 100 different chemical compounds are part of a tire.

In terms of environmental impact, it involves devastating ongoing deforestation as well as the use of harmful fossil fuels during its production process, which uses about 32 liters of oil, while those of trucks consume 100 liters.

A tire is no longer useful when its rubber wears out, the problem is that in this process, plastic polymers are released and they end up in seas and oceans, polluting them.

All these plastics that end up in seas and oceans affect both flora and fauna. Specifically in the fauna, they remain stuck, for example, in their gills or end up in their guts.

Another option is burning the tires, which, although there are facilities where it is safely controlled, if it is not done with the necessary measures, it has a great impact on the environment, since zinc and chlorine are released during the process. The reality is that this burning is often uncontrolled, as landfills want to get rid of tires at all costs without incurring great expense.

Once we know this information, we must be clear that; although tires are a great source of pollution, either because of the plastic it gives off or because of its burning, it can also be recycled to give it a second life and reduce its impact on the environment. In Parafina we have been aware of the impact of this material and therefore we have created the Parafina Recycled Rubber sunglasses, made from the rubber with which tires are made, which makes this collection one of the most resistant and flexible.