As Schwalbe dealers, we recycle the tyres we change. Indeed all our basement carpeting is made of recycled tyres.

However the scheme is coming to an end. Presently the used tyres (which are classified as toxic waste) are shipped back to Germany for recycling, and the UK distributor has decided to stop subsidising the costly operation. Indeed from a climate change perspective one may doubt the benefit of the scheme. So we need to find an alternative for next year.

Meanwhile, New Scientist reports of another potential use of recycled tyres:

Rubber tyres, the kind that lie at the bottom of rivers and at the back of junkyards the world over, could be ideal water filters says an environmental engineer at Penn State university in the US.

Yuefeng Xie says his “crumb rubber” suffers none of the problems of traditional water filtration systems and as a result can filter wastewater up to four times faster…

[However a] problem in cleaning filtering systems is that sewage sludge sticks to the filter particles. Sean Moran, an environmental engineer, thinks the sludge is more likely to stick to rubber than to smooth hard grains of sand and coal.

He is also concerned that the rubber from old tyres might leach out toxic chemicals including heavy metals. Xie’s team is now taking feedback from experts, and running tests to make sure the rubber does not leach out heavy metals.

Image of the funky reflective SweetSkinz by TotalBike