Do Waste Tires Affect the Ocean?

Roughly 1.5 billion car and truck tires are discarded globally each year, and some of that waste is water-bound. To learn more about the effect of those tires on the ocean, we asked a panel of professionals to weigh in. Read on to learn more.

Aaron Simmons

Aaron Simmons is the founder of Test Prep Genie. He believes in studying smart rather than studying hard to be successful. On this blog, Aaron shares tips and tricks on how to develop smarter study habits.

Table of Contents

Affects the quality of seawater

Yes, tire waste greatly affects the generality of marine life and the quality of seawater. Since [tire waste] is highly durable and non-biodegradable, it will take 50 to 80 years before it starts decomposing. This is a huge problem, especially [since] tire waste tops the materials that consume the most space in the landfills.

Bottom line: According to a study by Pieter Jan Kole at The Open University of The Netherlands in 2017 (published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health), tire wastes represent 10 percent of overall microplastic waste in the world’s oceans.

Can affect the overall ecosystem

Yes, they do. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, tires contribute to 30% of plastic being released into the oceans each year. These wastes, when consumed by a variety of marine life, can affect the overall ecosystem in the ocean resulting in the death of various animals.

James Bullard

James Bullard is the founder of Sound Fro. He shares his love for music on his blog, covering a variety of topics that will strike a chord with music enthusiasts around the world.

Simon Elkjær

Simon Elkjær, Chief Marketing Officer, avXperten.

Heavily affects all sea life

I’m very adamant about teaching my loved ones of the dangers [that] the disregard of the environment can bring to us, and that’s why I plan to lead by example. Tire waste accounts for more or less 10% of the microplastic waste in oceans and therefore heavily affects all sea life and us as well. In order to prevent this from happening, I’ve been constantly looking for ways to reuse tires and incorporate them into any of my projects.

Stuck in the ocean

Tire material is not something that decomposes, and [it] can get stuck in the ocean for a very long time. With a lot of people treating the ocean as their personal garbage can, we still see a lot of tires getting put into it, despite the reminders that it is bad for the environment. In time, there will be more waste in the ocean, which will affect the life inside of it and mean less fish that we can eat. [It will also make] the ecosystem of the ocean smaller, having a huge effect on the environment.

Lucas Robinson

Lucas Robinson, CMO of Crediful, a personal finance site.

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