Save Our Air From Tyre Wear
We all know tyres wear down, but never stop to consider where they go.
Tyres wear out from friction every time we accelerate, brake or corner. It enters our waterways, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. Tyre wear can account for up to 50% of PM2.5 & PM10 emissions from road transport and are the second-largest microplastic pollutant in our environment. As we move towards electric vehicles, tailpipe emissions are set to reduce but tyre wear is projected to increase due to the added battery weight and torque. With the development of EVs, it is crucial to consider the implications of tyre wear, so we are not replacing one pollution source with another.
The Tyre Collective aims to mitigate tyre emissions by capturing them at the source to ensure clean air, safeguarding our environment and health.
We discovered that tyre particles coming off are charged from friction with the road. Our patent-pending technology uses electrostatics to capture tyre wear right at the wheel. The device currently captures 60% of all airborne particulates on our test rig. Once collected, these fragments are processed to be reused in a variety of applications, creating a closed-loop system.
As students from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London, our solution is a result of collaboration with experts in Aerodynamics, Material Science and Chemical Engineering, facilitated by design. Alongside our device, we have designed a two-fold strategy of Awareness and Action, where we are working with local governments to raise awareness on tyre wear emissions and developing relationships with public transport companies to test and pilot our device. In our fight against air pollution, tyres have largely been ignored. Now, together, we can save our air from tyre wear!
Contact
W: www.thetyrecollective.com
I: @thetyrecollective
E: hello@thetyrecollective.com
Team
Siobhan Anderson, Hugo Richardson, Hanson Cheng, Deepak Mallya