nanotechnology and tyres: greening industry and transport

POLICY PERSPECTIVES

2015

Nanotechnologyand Tyres

Greening industry and transport

The use of new nanomaterials in tyre production could help foster the sustainability of the tyre industry and reduce the environmental impact of vehicles, if the potential environmental, health and safety risks of the technology are managed carefully.

This brochure presents some of the conclusions from the OECD report on Nanotechnology and

Tyres: Greening Industry and Transport

www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/nanosafety/

http://oecd.org/chemicalsafety/nanosafety/

OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES - 1

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES

KEY MESSAGES

• In the context of growing global challenges – including environmental degradation, resource scarcity and climate change – encouraging the green growth of industry is a key goal in many countries. The potential of nanotechnologies to contribute to this goal is significant; yet many of the policy implications are still unclear. Due to their diverse nature, there is a need for specific analysis of nanotechnology applications in real-world contexts.

• The tyre industry is an interesting case because the environmental challenges related to this sector are significant and growing – they account for 15-30% of a vehicle’s fuel consumption, and over a billion tyres currently reach the end of their lives each year. To meet these challenges the industry will need to undergo a major transition – by 2030 the number of road vehicles is expected to double, yet it is not feasible to service this demand for tyres using current production methods.

• New nanomaterials offer promising avenues for future innovation, which can contribute to the sustainability and resource efficiency of the tyre industry and of the transport sector. They have the potential to decrease tyre rolling resistance (improving fuel consumption and CO2 emissions) and lower wear resistance (increasing tyre lifetime), while maintaining wet grip and existing safety levels.

• The use of new nanomaterials in tyre production could help foster the sustainability of the tyre industry and reduce the environmental impact of vehicles, as long as the potential environmental, health and safety risks of the technology are managed carefully.

• There is need for a supporting framework and relevant tools to guide decision making in assessing the economic, social and ecological impacts of the introduction of new nanomaterials in tyre production. In particular, the development of industry-specific guidance to assess the environmental, health and safety risks at various stages of product development is critical.

• The OECD report entitled Nanotechnology and Tyres: Greening industry and transport highlights the potential of new nanomaterials whilst analysing the challenges for their safe and sustainable introduction in the tyre industry.

The tyre industry is highly innovative and has already

shown the capability to commercialise nanotechnologies.

Modern tyres have used nanoscale materials (carbon

black and silica) for decades to achieve performance

levels far higher than would be possible otherwise.

Indeed, rubber tyres are currently the biggest commercial

market for nanomaterials. However, the technical limits of

these current options are being reached. Looking forward,

new nanotechnologies are one of the most promising

avenues for future innovation, which could contribute

towards the sustainability and resource efficiency of the

tyre industry. A number of policy options could be used

to encourage development of nanotechnologies in the tyre

industry (see table 1).

Nevertheless, there are still barriers to innovation. For

new nanotechnologies at an early stage of development,

key barriers to development include the increased cost

of materials, lack of reliable and scalable production

techniques, and uncertainty over environmental, health

and safety (EHS) risks. Additionally, development times

in the industry are long due to the particular difficulty of

dispersing nanomaterials in the rubber matrix and the

need to ensure high levels of safety. Public support could

New nanotechnologies are one of the most promising avenues for future innovation, which could contribute towards the sustainability and resource efficiency of the tyre industry

2 - OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES

1Status of the technology

help to address the scientific challenges – particularly

around EHS issues – and encourage the responsible

development of new technologies.

At the later stages of development, market pull factors

become more important. Several historical examples

show that the tyre market is able to completely

transform when their customers demand it. Conversely,

uptake of new technologies can stagnate for decades if

the market conditions are not supportive. For example,

fuel-efficient tyres using nanoscale silica have been much

more successful in Europe compared to the United States

and China. A combination of policy and market factors

have contributed to this situation, including differences

in fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, fuel prices and

consumer demands.

Table 1: Policy options to encourage innovation in nanotechnology for the tyre industry

Policy instrument Effects on tyre industry

Encourages innovation in which tyre per-formance parameters?

Rolling resistance (fuel use)

Wear resistance (tyre life)

Wet grip (safety)

Minimum standards for tyre performance

Removes the worst-performing products ✓ ✓ ✓

Vehicle fuel efficiency standards

Stimulates OEM demand for efficient tyres ✓

Tyre labellingInnovation to reach the higher ratings & consumer awareness

✓ ✓ ✓

R&D investmentTechnology push (able to incortporate new nanomaterials) ✓ ✓ ✓

End-of-life treatment regula-tion for tyres

Leads to higher costs for recycling✓

Fuel taxationIncreases the benefit of fuel-saving tyres ✓

OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES - 3

An indication of how the policy framework might evolve

as the technology matures is provided in Figure 1. At the

early stages of development, technology and economic

factors are very important, although anticipation of

market demand is needed to encourage investment. As

the technology matures the need for R&D decreases,

while market pull factors gain importance. Uncertainty

over EHS risks appear to be a concern even for some of

the new nanomaterials that are close to market, and

differing regulatory frameworks can affect innovation at

all stages of development.

Policy opportunities for improving tyre-rolling resistance

(a key determinant of tyre-related fuel consumption)

are well-developed in several countries, particularly

with respect to vehicle fuel efficiency standards. Specific

legislation to reduce the impacts that tyres have on

vehicle fuel efficiency is relatively recent, with the

European tyre label and minimum standards for rolling

resistance being key examples. Good practice policies

should include elements to ensure that high levels of

safety are maintained, due to the potential trade-offs

between different tyre performance parameters. Similar

policies could also be used to encourage tyres with longer

lifetimes, but difficulties in creating standardised test

methods have hampered their introduction.

Figure 1: Evolution of policy framework as technology matures

Challenges

Uncertainty over EHS risks

Differing regulatory frameworks

Increased cost of nanomaterials

Technology development

Information asymmetry

Lack of demand from OEMs Fuel economy regulations, minimum standards

Tyre Labelling

R&D support, foster knowledge sharing

R&D support

Harmonisation, guidelines

R&D support, guidelines

Example policies Importance as technology matures

The OECD report also aimed to inform policy makers

about the potential economic, environmental and social

benefits of using new nanotechnologies in tyres.

Two new nanomaterials that are just entering the market

were analysed in detail, in terms of their impacts on

rolling resistance (fuel consumption) and wear resistance

(tyre life time), while maintaining wet grip (safety):

• A new generation of silica technology, known as High

Dispersion High Surface area (HD-HS) silica.

• Nanoclays used in tyre inner liners.

Table 2 summarises the key properties of the case study

nanomaterials, indexed against carbon black, which is

currently the main reinforcing agent used in tyres.

4 - OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES - 5

Socio-economic impacts of the development of new nanomaterials in tyre production2

Table 2: Summary of case study nanomaterials

Key:

- : indicates negligible improvement relative to carbon black

✓ : indicates some improvement (<10%)

✓ ✓: indicates significant improvement (>10%)

NanomaterialTyre performance benefits

Rolling resistance (fuel use)

Wear resistance (tyre life) Wet grip (safety)

Carbon black (mature market stage)

Index Index Index

Conventional HF Silica (mature market stage)

✓ ✓(up to 25% improvement)

✓ ✓ (up to 20% improvement)

✓(up to 10% improvement)

New generation HD-HS Silica (market entry)



✓(up to 10% improvement)

Nanoclay (market entry)

✓(a few per cent improvement)

✓(a few per cent improvement)

-

HD-HS silica Nanoclay

44,713

19,242

5,995

24,331

Net benefit $41,112m

Net benefit $28,304m

-18,573

-4,270

-1,638 -384

Tyre purchase cost

(replacement) Tyre purchase

cost (OEM)

Longer tyrelifetime

Fuel savings

Tyre purchase cost

(replacement) Tyre purchase

cost(OEM)

Longer tyrelifetime

Fuel savings

A cost-benefit analysis was conducted to inform policy

makers of the potential future impacts that could be

expected from uptake of new types of nanotechnology

in tyres. The scenarios explored here are not intended

to act as forecasts; rather, they are intended to inform

policy makers of the range of potential future impacts

that could be expected from uptake of new types of

nanotechnology in tyres. Both case study nanomaterials

appear to offer significant net savings to consumers, as

shown in Figure 2. All calculations are expressed in terms

of the changes due to purchases of new nano-enabled

tyres (based on HD-HS silica and nanoclay ) compared

to the reference incumbent tyres (carbon black and

conventional HD silica). That is, the costs and benefits

arise from the different impacts of the nanomaterial part

of the tyre.


Figure 2: Breakdown of total discounted costs and benefits to consumers of new nanotechnologies compared to incumbent nanotechnologies in tyres from 2015-35

(sum of EU, USA and China), $ millions

Notes: OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer (tyres on new vehicles); replacement = replacement tyres purchased for existing

vehicles. It is assumed that increased costs of tyres on new vehicles are fully passed through to consumers. A social discount

factor of 3% is used to discount net benefits to the year of market entry (2015).

The cost-benefit analysis found that most of the net

benefits were to consumers, with relatively small

net benefits to producers and small reductions in

environmental externalities. In the case of environmental

externalities, this was partly due to a lack of reliable

methods to monetise benefits in this area. In addition,

many other impacts on society and the environment are

not easily incorporated into a cost-benefit framework;

therefore a qualitative analysis was also conducted.

Table 3 overleaf shows the overall quantitative

and qualitative assessment of the case study

new nanomaterials, with impacts ranked from

strongly negative to strongly positive. Economic and

environmental impacts are positive on the whole, with

particular benefits to consumers. Societal impacts could

arise from impacts on employment, accidents and on

developing economies.


HD-HS Silica NanoclayEconomic impacts

Consumer benefits✓✓

Increase in consumer benefits over period

2015-35 of $41,100 million (discounted)

✓✓Increase in consumer benefits over period

2015-35 of $28,300 million (discounted)

Producer benefits✓✓

Increase in producer benefits over period 2015-35

of $5,200 million (discounted)

✓Increase in producer benefits over period

2015-35 of $150 million (discounted)

Environmental impactsEnvironmental

externalities (CO2 and air pollutants,

monetised)

✓✓Reduction in environmental externalities over

period 2015-35 of $6,300 million (discounted)

✓✓Reduction in environmental externalities over

period 2015-35 of $7,500 million (discounted)

Environmental exter-nalities (air pollutants

in China – not monetised)

✓Reduction in air pollutants in 2035 of:

19kt SO2; 79kt NOx; 3kt PM10; 2kt PM2.5

✓Reduction of air pollutants in 2035 of: 20kt

SO2; 84kt NOx; 3kt PM10; 2kt PM2.5

Resource consumption

✓✓Reduction in natural rubber consumption of 192

thousand tonnes in 2035 (around 6% reduction

compared to baseline in 2035)

✓Reduction in natural rubber consumption

of 28 thousand tonnes in 2035 (around 1%

reduction compared to baseline in 2035

Use of energy

✓Reduction in transport fuel consumption of 356

PJ (around 0.7% reduction compared to baseline

in 2035)

✓Reduction in transport fuel consumption of

337 PJ (around 0.6% reduction compared to

baseline in 2035)

Social impacts

Public health and safety

?Uncertain due to lack of data. Potential exposures and releases of nanomaterials during the use

phase are expected to be less likely (due to being bound in the polymer matrix), although there is

still a need for this to be verified for new nanomaterials.

Road accidentsO

Negligible

✓Potential for reduction in road accidents due

to better air retention

Employment in the tyre manufacturing

industry

xReduction in employment demand of 11,700 jobs

due to reduced demand for replacement tyres

xReduction in employment demand of 1,900

jobs due to reduced demand for replacement

tyres

Impact on developing economies

?Possible impacts due to reduction in natural rubber exports - mitigation could include education

about possible impacts due to nano-enabled tyres and other technology developments, as well

as crop switchOing; potential for social benefits if consumers gain access to nano-enabled tyres,

although affordability could be an issue

Key:xx x O ✓ ✓✓ ?

Strongly negative Negative Negligible Positive Strongly positive Uncertain

Table 3: Overall assessment of case study new generation nanomaterials compared to incumbent nanomaterials


Environmental impacts in the context of life-cycle analysis

The results of the Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) generally

indicate that fuel consumption in the tyre use phase

dominates impacts across the entire life cycle, and that

there are potential savings in the use of new types of

nano-enabled tyres relative to conventional tyres because

of lower rolling-resistance and / or longer tyre lifetimes.

The nanomaterial production stage shows high

percentage reductions in impacts (i.e., over 25% for

emissions and over 10% for Life-Cycle Inventory results)

for the production of the HD-HS silica filler relative to

production of the baseline mix of HD silica and carbon

black. The nanoclay tyre scenario also indicates potential

savings relative to baseline tyres but at levels considered

statistically insignificant (i.e., less than 25% savings).

Nevertheless, although the savings in the production

stage are relatively high in percentage terms, the

magnitude of the savings is much greater for the in-use

stage.

Potential nano-scale releases were estimated separately

from other life-cycle emissions using very conservative

assumptions and/or release rate estimates. Given

sufficient data on the fate, transport, and exposure of

a particular substance at the nano-scale, the potential

impacts of these releases may be further characterised.

This aspect of the LCA offers a framework for estimating

magnitude of potential nano-scale releases but definitive

conclusions cannot be made at this time due to the

number of data gaps.

Primary recommendations to improve the LCA framework

include: refining the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data

for the nanomaterial and tyre manufacturing stages;

refining of nanomaterial release rates and environmental

compartmentalisation at use and end of life cycle stages;

and applying impact assessment factors for nano-

scale versus macro-scale substance releases for each

environmental compartment to determine potential

environmental impacts of estimated nanomaterial

releases.

The impacts on employment and trade depend on a

wide variety of factors. For example, if the use of new

nanomaterials tends to reduce emplyement demand, this

demand also depends on the opportunities for workers to

find jobs in other sectors. The reduction in consumption

of natural rubber is beneficial in terms of minimising

demand for critical raw materials, but many smallholders

in developing countries rely on these exports for their

livelihoods. The impact on rubber-exporting countries

must also be considered in light of other factors such as

opportunities to switch to other crops (e.g. palm oil and

cocoa) and ongoing efforts by industry to reduce their

reliance on natural rubber imports (through seeking

alternative sources of natural latex and development of

biotechnology alternatives). Overall, the most pressing

issue does not appear to be the changes in market

conditions due to uptake of new nanotechnologies in

tyres per se, but rather the risk that stakeholders might

not be prepared for any disruptive effects.

A cost-benefit analysis is most useful when the impacts

can be accurately quantified. Currently the uncertainty

over EHS risks means this is not practical. The benefits

outlined above include reductions in costs to consumers,

improvements in tyre industry profitability and

reductions in environmental impacts. These benefits must

be weighed up against the possibility of introducing a

new and uncertain externality relating to nanotechnology

EHS risks. While the case study new nanomaterials are

expected to bring net benefits, it is this element of risk

that could delay their market introduction. Even so, a

wide range of products containing nano-scale silica and

nanoclays are already available to consumers.

Nevertheless, there is a need to ensure that either the

EHS impacts are more fully understood, or alternatively

that the risk of exposure along the entire value chain are

eliminated before the product is brought to market.

3

OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES - 98 - OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES

The OECD report provides a risk-management framework that can be used to develop site- or company-

specific risk assessments or risk management strategies

for using nanomaterials as additives in tyres. The

framework follows the risk-based decision-making

framework discussed in the OECD’s report on Important

Issues on Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials.

The framework focuses on a qualitative approach to

assessing and managing risk called the risk/control

banding approach, and specifically includes steps for

continual revision and improvement based on new

research.

• For proactive risk assessments, the hazard band

and exposure band rankings are fed into a control banding matrix. The control banding matrix

provides guidance on the proper selection of control

strategies to manage risk.

• For retroactive risk assessments, the hazard band

and exposure band rankings are fed into a risk banding matrix to provide a qualitative assessment

of the risk of a given process.

However, in order to cover all life-cycle stages it is

necessary to expand beyond the risk/control banding

approach (which focuses on industrial settings).

Therefore, the framework also provides guidance

on how to evaluate the exposure pathways over all

life cycle stages, in order to critically evaluate the

exposure potential of the nanomaterial to the general

population and ecological endpoints. In the absence

of toxicological data for these endpoints and fate and

transport data for the nanomaterial, conservative control

methodologies that aim to entirely eliminate exposures

are recommended.

4Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS)risks and best practices

OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES - 98 - OECD POLICY PERSPECTIVES NANOTECHNOLOGY AND TYRES

Whilst many governments are actively engaged in

international collaboration, the rapidly evolving nature of

nanotechnology poses several challenges to developing

regulatory approaches. As such, a growing number of

guidelines and voluntary approaches have emerged.

Despite this growth, there appears to be data gaps

relating to the following areas:

Industry-specific guidelines

In an effort to close this gap, the OECD report sets out

a general risk framework that can be used by industry,

which should be supported by communication between

stakeholders and dissemination of reliable information on

nano-safety.

Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS)risks and best practices

5EHS best practice and knowledge transfer

Photo credits:© Shutterstock/kentoh

© istockphoto.com/nadhla© Shutterstock/Samo Trebizan

© Shutterstock/EKS© Shutterstock/Dragomer Maria

© Shutterstock/kstudija© Shutterstock/Natykach Nataliia

© Shutterstock/Efman© Shutterstock/Ase

© Shutterstock/archetype

Guidance on specific nanomaterials used in the tyre industry

This issue relates to the general state of nano-safety

understanding, and is already the subject of much

research effort globally.

A need for better coverage of end-of-life tyres

For more information:www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/nanosafety/

nanotechnology and tyres: greening industry and transport

Documents