Bridgestone Corporation has developed a Tire and Road Wear Particles (TRWP) vehicle collection method aimed at understanding the environmental impact of TRWP. TRWP are the result of friction between the tire and the road surface, which is essential to ensuring a safe, comfortable journey. It consists of a mixture of tread (tire surface) and road pavement materials.

Bridgestone is actively conducting various TRWP research activities to understand the particle size distribution, dispersion behavior, and environmental impact, as well as to develop efficient collection methods. Through these efforts, the company is committed to both understanding TRWP and reducing its generation.

Bridgestone has first focused on how the TRWP are generated. While utilizing the B-Mobility proving ground at the Bridgestone Innovation Park in Kodaira, Tokyo, the company developed a method that enables the efficient collection of TRWP.

Bridgestone has visualized the dispersion of particles such as TRWP by combining a high- speed camera with laser light scattering. Based on these, the company has created a device that covers the entire tire and captures TRWP efficiently.

Furthermore, by utilizing autonomous driving as well as using an electric vehicle with regenerative braking, the collection method enabled the collection of TRWP efficiently in a state that eliminates the influence of exhaust emissions and break dust.

Through its activities to understand TRWP, Bridgestone has been investigating the physical and chemical characteristics of TRWP and their environmental effects through the Tire Industry Project (TIP) under the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

In parallel with efforts to understand TRWP, Bridgestone is also promoting initiatives to reduce and minimize TRWP generation, such as the development of long-life products with improved wear resistance and collaboration with its solutions business.