By ATN Editorial Team
Bridgestone Corporation has developed a cutting-edge 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 aims to accelerate research and contribute to the understanding, solutions, and
mitigation of TRWP’s environmental impact. We have first focused on how the TRWP is generated.
While utilizing the B-Mobility proving ground at the Bridgestone Innovation Park in Kodaira,
Tokyo, the Company has developed a cutting-edge 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 our activities to understand TRWP, Bridgestone, as a leader in the industry, 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). By efficiently collecting TRWP at a high recovery rate through
Bridgestone’s newly developed collection method, the Company is accelerating its efforts to
assess TRWP’s environmental effects in addition to our ongoing co-creation and internal R&D
collaboration.
In parallel with our 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 our solutions business. Through these efforts,
Bridgestone strives to achieve “Ecology: Committed to advancing sustainable tire technologies
and solutions that preserve the environment for future generations” described in the corporate
commitment, the “Bridgestone E8 Commitment.” *1
The cutting-edge TRWP vehicle collection method developed for this project was also presented
at the Tire Technology Expo 2025, held in Hannover, Germany from March 4 to 6.
*1 The Bridgestone Group established its corporate commitment, the “Bridgestone E8 Commitment,”
to help it realize its vision: “Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and
customer value as a sustainable solutions company.” This commitment will serve as the Group’s
axis to drive management while earning the trust of future generations. The “Bridgestone E8
Commitment” consists of eight uniquely Bridgestone values starting with the letter “E” (Energy,
Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease, and Empowerment) that the Group will
commit to creating through distinctly Bridgestone purposes and processes, together with
employees, society, partners, and customers to help realize a sustainable society.
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