Australian researchers have found that tire wear and tear is a major contributor to urban waterway pollution, producing particulate matter that includes microplastics. But, they also found that there are effective ways of reducing this type of pollution, which can affect the health of the…
Im not saying they’re apples to apples, I’m saying that I was just wondering if we could design tires that were less conducive to creating microparticles
No.
It doesn’t matter what they’re made of, either the street or the tire is going to break down due to friction. One of two things is being washed down the drain. And you don’t want it to be the road.
You could design both road and wheel to be steel, those would break down the least, but steel wheels need tracks and then you’re back to street cars. Which are great, by the way.
For a less disruptive solution, no current material matches the qualities of vulcanized rubber that we want for tires. The rubber we use on tires is relatively slow to break down, can hold pressure, makes good contact with rough surfaces, and is cheap.
If you can design a material that’s better for the environment that does all of that, you’ll be a billionaire within a year.
That’s why trams and trains are useful. Metal wheels. Upfront costs are higher but ongoing maintenance costs are much lower.