How Tyres Threaten Aquatic and Human Life

Scrap tyres were once looked upon as a cheap and environmentally green way to recycle waste materials into usable habitats for underwater flora and fauna. Asian Diver looks into how submerged tyres are actually endangering marine and human life

- Terence Koh

In the middle of September this year, French authorities hired specially equipped boats with lifting gear to haul to the surface thousands of old tyres from artificial reefs. Researchers had discovered that the tyres were leaking toxic chemicals, including heavy metals, into the sea. This tyre reef sanctuary, located 500 metres from the Mediterranean coastline between the towns of Cannes and Antibes in the southeast corner of France, was created in the 1980s by dumping 25,000 car tyres into the sea after local fishermen and French authorities envisioned a protected area where fishing was banned and corals and marine life could populate the tyres, thereby rejuvenating the marine life in this stretch of the Mediterranean.

With increasing focus on the harmful effects tyres can have on the environment and the ocean, policymakers and tyre companies are becoming concerned. In addition to the toxicity from tyres submerged in water as stabilisers in breakwaters or as structures in artificial reefs, tyre waste transmitted through the air from vehicles on roads is also one of the issues being addressed by the European Commission in a White Paper drafted in January 2018 stating their strategy in dealing with plastics in a circular economy. Besides acknowledging that more research is needed to comprehend where microplastics come from and how they affect the environment and human health, the commission is looking into ways to cut down on microplastics that come from tyres. One of the ways they intend to do this is by looking into setting an EU-wide standard for the abrasion rate of tyres through establishing a common testing method along with a requirement for producers to inform consumers.

HOW TYRES GET INTO THE SEA