Web design e-Logic.be

BLIC Tyre Members launched in the mid-90s an ambitious programme to search for possible substitutes to currently used highly aromatic extender oils, while maintaining a high degree of road safety performance and compliance with existing legal and technical requirements for tyres.
This ambitious programme was undertaken in co-operation with the synthetic rubber producers and the supplier oil companies.

A substitution from PAH-rich oils to alternative oils (including oil extended polymer production) represents a great challenge for industry especially as the grip performance of tyres, and therefore the breaking distance of cars and road safety, could be negatively affected. This entails significant efforts including chemical re-engineering, extended laboratory tests and complete tyre tests and homologation, and important changes to the manufacturing process.

Further to intensive activities, the European tyre producers publicly announced in June 2003 to pursue a precautionary approach and committed to phase out use of the PAH-rich extender oils by January 2010.

Scientific evidence of risk to health and the environment from PAHs in extender oils and tyres

In November 2003, the Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (CSTEE) concluded that tyre debris contribute marginally to total PAH emissions (2%) and that a limitation of PAHs in tyres will insignificantly reduce overall concentrations in the environment.

EU regulatory framework

Further to the European Commission publication of the proposal for a Directive aiming at restricting the marketing and use of PAH-rich extender oils used in tyre production, COM(2004)98, the European Parliament adopted its first reading on 9 June 2005.

The main amendments introduced by the Parliament are as follows:

• The Directive applies to all tyres produced after the date of 1 January 2010;
• Extender oils used for tyre production should not contain more than 1 mg/kg BaP, or more than 10 mg/kg of the sum of all listed PAHs, these measures are regarded as kept if the polycyclic aromatics (PCA) extract is less than 3% by mass, as measured by the Institute of Petroleum standard IP346:1998
• Extender oils limits in vulcanised rubber compounds should not exceed 0.35 Bay proton, as measured and calculated by ISO 21461;
• Tread used in the retreading industry should respect from 1 January 2010 the extender oils limits set in the Directive.

On 17 October 2005, the Environment Council formally adopted the Parliament 1st reading putting an end to the legislative procedure.

The EC Directive 2005/69 was finally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 December 2005. It will come into force from 1 January 2010.

We welcome the publication of the Directive and confirm that the date of January 2010 will give necessary resources to Industry to meet the substitution challenge while still meeting the full safety and performance standards for these essential products.

Update 16 June 2006.