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Environmental and Health Benefits of Reducing Tyre Wear Emissions in Preparation for the New Euro 7 Standard
Summary
Researchers calculated the environmental pollution caused by tire wear, one of the largest sources of unintentionally released microplastics, and estimated the benefits of the EU's new Euro 7 emission limits. They found that even modest reductions in tire abrasion rates would yield significant cost savings and environmental improvements across Europe through 2050. The study supports the introduction of tire wear limits as a practical step toward reducing microplastic pollution from road transport.
Microplastics pollution is becoming a major environmental concern for air, soil, and water. The European Union (EU) Zero Pollution Action Plan targets to reduce microplastics release to the environment by 30% by 2030. Tyre wear is estimated to be the most important contributor to unintentionally released microplastics to the environment. For this reason, the new Euro 7 vehicle emission standard introduced placeholders for limiting tyre abrasion. In this study, we calculate the environmental pollution from tyres using as a basis a recent review on tyre wear emission factors. We also estimate the impact of reducing the average emission factors following the Euro 7 implementation dates. Additionally, we present the cost savings to the EU by such a reduction over a time horizon until 2050. Even though the final cost saving estimations come with some uncertainty due to lack of accurate and up-to-date emission factors, especially for heavy-duty vehicles, the introduction of tyre wear limits has a significant positive impact under all scenarios examined.