YOU might think you know everything about the tyres on your car; they’re black, round (or they should be) and they keep you rolling on the road. But like any consumer product required worldwide, there are factors such as disposal and recycling to consider – plus considerations from the many motorsports and other pastimes that rely on their rubber souls. With that in mind, here are ten facts about tyres that might surprise you.

10

Roads have been made from used tyres since the 1960s, with recycled tyres being shredded and mixed with asphalt to produce recycled, safer and more environmentally friendly roads

9

Formula 1 might seem like a particularly unsafe pastime, but as it happens, many tyre safety features have been added to everyday cars for public roads.

In fact, the actual shape and style of construction of the carcass tyre design comes directly from the sport – not, as you might’ve imagined, years of testing on your average road car.

8

It is illegal to store used or wasted tyres in landfill sites in Europe. Since 2006 the EU has made it illegal for either shredded or whole tyres to be left to rot on the dump.

Despite this, approximately 3 million tonnes of tyres are still left on landfills around mainland Europe every single year. Maybe they roll there?

7

Every year in the US, nearly 50 million pounds of rubber is worn off of tyres every single week.

That’s enough to make 3.25 million new tyres! Good luck sticking it all back together, though.

6

Since October 2012, it has been obligatory for all tyres in Europe to be sold with an EU rating system. Online retailers such as Tyres on the Drive and Round Trip Tyres can tell you all you need to know about how these ratings affect you and your car. So make sure you ask for one next time you’re stuck on the roadside in the pouring rain.