EcoVisionary

O n a cold morning in Britain, a worn-out tyre is removed from a vehicle and enters the country's waste management system. Officially, it is destined for recycling. For most people, that is where the story ends. They assume the tyre will be processed responsibly, transformed into useful materials, and re-enter the economy as part of a sustainable circular system. Yet the journey of that tyre may be far more complex. Months later, it may have travelled thousands of kilometres across oceans and continents before arriving at an Indian port. It may then be transported across states through a network of traders, warehouses, transporters, and recyclers before ultimately reaching a facility far removed from the clean and environmentally responsible recycling process that was originally promised. In some cases, investigations have suggested that tyres exported in the name of recycling have ultimately reached unauthorized processing facilities where they are burned or processed under unsafe...