Solutions for Sustainable Tires before 2050?

Question

Almost all automotive tires are made of synthetic "rubber".Synthetic rubber tires pollute microplastics which harm aquatic life including salmon.So, we need to make tires out of different materials in order to spare the environment, society and public health, and economy.What are some potential solutions for sustainable tire products and production?

westurner · Accepted Answer

"Here&rsquo;s how Michelin plans to make its tires more renewable: The tire company wants a completely sustainable tire by 2050" (2024) https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/07/heres-how-michelin-plan..."Michelin Sustainable Tires Use a Rice Byproduct" https://www.motortrend.com/features/michelin-sustainable-ric...OTOH, Dandelion rubber (Taraxagum), Hemp

mtmail · Answer

Envo advertises eco-friendly tires. But it's still rubber "Erlendsson was light on the technical details but promised 10 percent lower rolling resistance than regular tires".https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/24/24183327/ev-tire-pollutio...

talldayo · Answer

We can't even be assed to mandate repairable smartphones in 2024. People don't care about our environment, they care about affordable technology that does what they want while marketing the values they respect to them. Tire manufacturers, big tech, and most sizable businesses have figured this out by now. Even if you invented a miracle rubber alternative, it was cheaper than synthetic rubber, and you made it freely available, tire manufacturers would still undercut each other until they had the highest-margin product. Any way you slice it, our miraculous free market exclusively incentivizes manufacturers to destroy the one planet our human race has.My advice? Give up on the environment. You're on Hacker News, the majority of this website would happily destroy the earth for decades to come if it meant they could be king for a year. Even outside HN, who consciously considers the environment when making purchasing decisions anymore? Who stands up to the lobbyists that stop pro-environmental change from happening? Nobody. We suffer because people with money insist it's the only way we can live, and biodegradable tires aren't going to change that political status-quo.