The Material / The Problem
The tire is a non-biodegradable material due to the fact that the rubber that composes tires (polybutadiene, or C4H8), has a chemical structure that is alien to microorganisms that usually degrade materials. The impossibility for natural transformation of tire rubber causes these wastes to lie in landfills for a very long time, generating accumulation issues that have severe repercussions on the environment and society.
Due to the fact that the useful life of a tire is a lot shorter than its life in the landfill, different elimination processes have been developed. Whether through combustion or using chemical products for breakdown, these practices generate serious environmental problems due to the introduction of toxic gases in the atmosphere. Heavy metals and benzenes freed because of these emissions are also capable of causing serious illnesses.
Solutions like compaction of the material so it can be used as filler for roads or as material for shoe soles are some of the alternatives that can be used to ameliorate the problem.
As we are committed to this cause, at Cyclus we design products that extend the tire's life cycle, giving the rubber new uses. For this we use the inner tube of the tires, since it is thinner and more flexible, we can produce multiple forms and is much more manageable than outer tire rubber.
