The Tire Industry Project is conducting a pilot study to assess how effectively wastewater treatment plants can potentially remove tire and road wear particles from wastewater streams.

The project is being carried out with the Greater Paris Sanitation Authority and sustainability consultancy ERM at the Valenton wastewater treatment plant near Paris, France.

TIP said the study will run through 2026 at Valenton, which is the second-largest wastewater treatment plant in Europe and is considered broadly representative of modern municipal wastewater treatment facilities.

Pilot focuses on tire and road wear particles

Tire and road wear particles, also known as TRWP, are generated during normal tire use through interaction between tires and road surfaces.

In many urban areas, rainwater and road runoff enter wastewater systems before treated water is released into waterways. TIP said understanding how wastewater treatment processes manage TRWP could help inform future best practices in wastewater management.

The organization said there is currently limited systematic evidence on how effectively wastewater treatment plants remove TRWP. The pilot is intended to generate end-to-end data across the treatment process.

Samples to be analyzed during treatment stages

Between now and the end of 2026, the project will analyze samples collected at key treatment stages at the Valenton plant.

The study will use advanced laboratory techniques, including pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, to estimate how much TRWP is removed throughout the full treatment process.

TIP said the results are expected to be submitted to a scientific journal for peer review, with final publication likely in early 2027.

Study follows TIP white paper on TRWP mitigation

The pilot puts into practice one of the nine priority mitigation measures identified in TIP’s white paper, Commitment to Addressing Tire and Road Wear Particles.

Published in 2024, the white paper reviewed more than 50 potential mitigation measures from scientific literature and prioritized nine based on their potential to reduce TRWP through prevention, containment and removal.

TIP said the review found that none of the mitigation measures analyzed had yet been proven effective specifically for TRWP and that real-world assessment was needed.

Project aims to support science-based mitigation

TIP said TRWP remains a complex field of study because of limited harmonization, differences in particle characteristics and the varied environmental pathways through which particles can move.

The organization and its member companies said they are working to advance scientific understanding of TRWP, including quantification, characterization, environmental migration and potential impacts.

Larisa Kryachkova, Executive Director at TIP, said the pilot is intended to move beyond laboratory understanding toward field-based evidence and help identify best practices that may be applied beyond the project.

SIAAP and ERM support the research

SIAAP, the public authority responsible for wastewater treatment in the Paris region, is participating in the study to gain a science-based view of TRWP movement in wastewater and solid waste streams.

Sabrina Guérin, Head of Innovation at SIAAP, said the findings could help inform future treatment planning and readiness for regulatory requirements.

ERM is supporting the pilot with expertise in sustainability consulting and environmental research. The consultancy has previously worked with TIP on field studies of TRWP and on analytical methods used to detect these particles.

SIAAP manages six wastewater treatment plants, 481 kilometers of sewer lines and eight stormwater basins. It treats approximately 2.5 million cubic meters of wastewater per day for more than 9 million people in the Paris region.

To read more about the initiative, please see the web page of The Tire Industry Project.