15. Jul 2021

Tire Abrasion in the Environment

Sampling basket reveals hot spots

According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology in Oberhausen, Germany, 110,000 tons of tire abrasion are created each year in Germany alone. The study states that this abrasion causes one third of all annual microplastics emissions in Germany and can make its way into the environment through precipitation. Researchers at the Technical University (TU) of Berlin are working on identifying and quantifying how these particles enter into the aquatic environment. As part of the project RAU (Tire abrasion in the environment) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), they spent three-and-a-half years investigating what happens to tire particles during the usage phase of tires together with partners from industry, municipalities, and research. The aim of the project is to develop a catalog of measures to reduce entry at so-called hot spots – sites with particularly high load. The GKD Group (GKD), leading international technical weavers based in Düren, Germany, developed the sampling basket, a central element to the success of the project.

Tire abrasion in the vironmt publication_ENTire abrasion in the environmt picture selection_EN