Environmental and Health Benefits of Reducing Tyre Wear Emissions in Preparation for the New Euro 7 Standard

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.

GIECHASKIEL Barouch;  GRIGORATOS Theodoros;  DILARA Panagiota;  FRANCO Vicente; 

2025-02-06

MULTIDISCIPLINARY DIGITAL PUBLISHING INSTITUTE (MDPI)

JRC139678

2071-1050 (online),   

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/10919,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC139678,   

10.3390/su162410919 (online),