Globally more than 1.5bn end of life tyres are indiscriminately discarded causing a great deal of harm to the environment. In the UK alone there are more than 450,000 tonnes of end-of-life car-tyres dumped. These are difficult to process due to the complex chemical composition including synthetic and natural rubber, steel and fibre that are fused together. The industry sends these tyres (very quietly) off to other countries that have lax environmental controls. The developed world needs to do better and be at the forefront of environmental processes.

Tyres are designed and constructed to withstand extreme operating conditions including friction, heat, water, stress over continuous and long periods of time. These conditions include the cyclic nature of the conditions under which tyres exist during their operating lifecycle. Therefore, this cyclic aspect is also factored into the durability of the tyre in the design stage.