Abstract
There are numerous threats to the natural environment that pose a significant risk both to the environment and to human health, including car tires. Thus, there is a need to determine the impact of the life cycle of car tires on the environment, starting with the processes of raw materials acquisition, production, and ending with end-of-life management. Therefore, the authors of this study chose to do research on passenger car tires (size: P205/55/R16). As part of the research, the life cycle assessment (LCA) of traditional car tires was performed with the use of the Eco-indicator 99, cumulative energy demand (CED), and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods. The level of negative effects was determined for the life cycle of a tire and its particular stages: Production, use, and end of life. The negative impact on the atmosphere, soil, and water, as well as on human health, the environment, and natural resources was also investigated. The results show that the most energy-absorbing stage of a car tire life cycle is the use stage. It was found that the most harmful impact involves the depletion of natural resources and emissions into the atmosphere. Recycling car tires reduces their negative environmental impact during all their life cycle stages.
Highlights
Focused analyses of car tires involve their description and life cycle assessment in terms of intelligent development, design, the operation and maintenance of machines and technological systems, as well as the decision process from the point of view of science, technology, and the economy [1,2,3]
This study provides a comprehensive approach to the assessment of the environmental impact of a P205/55/R16 car tire for three areas: Human health, ecosystem quality, and natural resources
The results show that over 80% of potentially negative impacts occur at the stage of a car tire’s production, including: Carcinogens compounds, radioactive compounds, compounds that increase ozone depletion, ecotoxic compounds, land use, mineral extraction Figure 4—Which is mainly related to the use of materials such as natural and synthetic rubber—steel cords, textile fibers, oils, stearic acids, zinc oxides, copper, as well as energy use in the technological processes involved in the production of these materials to combine them into a single product: A car tire
Summary
Focused analyses of car tires involve their description and life cycle assessment in terms of intelligent development, design, the operation and maintenance of machines and technological systems, as well as the decision process from the point of view of science, technology, and the economy [1,2,3]. In the case of production and trade companies, life cycle assessment can be applied to the products themselves and can address general problems. Their results can be used for the development of action plans, waste management strategies, and design modification to be later compared with other companies [4,5,6]. Companies are more and more frequently using life cycle assessment at the stage of product design, improvement, or the formulation of overall development strategies, and for the object’s entire life cycle management [7,8,9,10,11,12].
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