KYOTO, Japan—Chief executive officers from 11 global tire manufacturers met under the aegis of the Tire Industry Project to review progress and confirm their support of the ongoing mandate to advance sustainability in the tire industry, according to a news release from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Founded in 2005 under the aegis of the WBCSD, the TIP is a global, CEO-led initiative by major tire manufacturers to research potential human health and environmental impacts of tires throughout their life cycle.
TIP member CEOs meet biennially to review the project's progress and approve a two-year work plan, according to the WBCSD.
Reviewing the 2018-2019 work program for TIP, the CEOs especially commended the inception and launch of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, an independent multi-stakeholder platform created to advance improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain, the WBCSD said.
The CEOs also recognized the importance of the 2019 study, "Evaluation of Tire Wear Contribution to PM2.5 in Urban Environments," which demonstrated that tire and road wear particles (TRWP) are a minor contributor to airborne particulates in three major cities, the council said.
The CEOs approved publication of a TIP global state-of-knowledge report on the management of end-of-life tires (ELT) and a 2019 edition of the TIP report on environmental key performance indicators for tire manufacturing, the release said.
They also approved a work plan for 2020-21 that includes several further research projects involving TRWP, the council said. The studies will include extended sampling of TRWP presence in air, rivers and soil estuaries, an analysis of the degradation of TRWP, modeling the fate of TRWP in the environment and an investigation of the potential health impacts on organisms from long-term exposure to TRWP.
"TIP will continue to report on the environmental performance of the manufacturing operations of its members and will see an evolution of its work on ELT to include dialogue with stakeholders toward an improved understanding of opportunities for more sustainable ELT management," the release said.
Co-chaired by Goodyear, Bridgestone Corp., and Michelin, the TIP represents approximately 65% of the world's tire manufacturing capacity, according to the release.