THE EDITOR, Sir:OUR WESTERN industrial civilisation should be ashamed to continue for so long to produce the traditional motor vehicle tyre of which we only use 5-10 per cent of the product while 90-95 per cent is discarded to pollute the world's environment.
Even the 5-10 per cent that is partially worn from the beads and tyre caps seep into our ground water system and continuously poison it. It is difficult indeed to find a product more polluting in its components than the motor vehicle tyre and each year we produce millions, if not billions more.
It is certainly the ultimate modern day conflict: corporate profitability vs what is good and safer for the planet and humanity. The tyre industry will be required to make changes in the way it reconfigures manufacturing and may very well lose huge profits in the process. But I bet my bottom dollar their R&D departments have already figured out more wholesome ways to produce and use tyres only waiting on the inevitable pressure from the green interest groups.
Perhaps consumers could be required to pay higher prices for a set of tyres design to last the lifetime of the car, say 10-15 years or something of the sort or use components that are more bio-degradable in shorter time. I am sure there are numerous studies on the options.
Tyre pollution and other serious sources of pollution must be tackled now in order to give all the parties some time to come up with solutions. But enlightened self-interest dictates that tyre manufacturers become immediately engaged in the process before the swell of public outcry forces them into least acceptable options.
I am, etc.,
L.A. BERT RAMSAY
P.O. Box 760
Kingston
