It’s estimated that around 1.5 billion new tires are produced annually, but that number is constantly growing. More than half of all used tires are simply burned for their fuel value, but that also implies heavy pollution. Since approximately one tire is discarded per person per year, a team of smart entrepreneurs believes there is a better way to use the rubber rims: turning them into flip flops.
Due to their heavy metal and other pollutant content, tires pose a risk for the (leaching) toxins into the groundwater when placed in wet soils. Research has shown that very little occurs when shredded tires are used as light filling material, however, limitations have been put on use of this material.
Then there’s ecotoxicity. Studies show that zinc, heavy metals, a host of vulcanization and rubber chemicals leach into water from tires. Many organisms are sensitive, and without dilution, contaminated tire water has been shown to kill some of them.
In other words, simply throwing them away or burning them is not really the best solution to get rid of the huge pileup of scrap tires that is continuously growing. But what if we all started reusing the material on a bigger scale. TireFlops is a start-up company that wants to create high tech flip flop sandals in a responsible and sustainable manner. Designed and created in The Basque Country, Spain the source for the materials comes from local scrap yards.
The recycling company called GomaVial claims their team has spent three years perfecting its TireFlop design, testing anti-slip properties and the strength of the rubber support. They are currently seeking for support on Kickstarter and it seems the feedback was quite good since they almost managed to back their £9,000 ($13,606) goal. Feel free to consult the video below for further details.
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