logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
23m 49s

Turning tyres into cheap fuel & football...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Meet the entrepreneurs using scrap rubber to fuel cars and make new tyres.

Each year, over a billion car tyres reach the end of their life.

They’re notoriously hard to recycle and present an environmental hazard if left to disintegrate out in the open.

But around the world, people are trying to clean up their cities by finding new uses for the mountains of rubber waste.

In Senegal, a young entrepreneur is turning them into artificial football pitches. In Zambia, an engineer is perfecting a way to turn these tyres into diesel. And in Canada, a company is making new tyres out of old ones using some very clever chemistry. Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Francois Wibaux Producers: Jo Mathys and Claire Bates Image: Yaye Souadou Fall

Up next
Oct 27
We've moved! Subscribe to The Documentary
People Fixing The World has moved to a new home. Just search for The Documentary wherever you get your podcasts to continue hearing from Myra and the team, with a new episode exploring positive solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges published every Wednesday. 
43s
Oct 20
Breaking the code of silence
We travel to the Italian island of Sicily to see how Palermo residents are fighting back against the influence of the Mafia. Presenter Myra Anubi meets people from the charity Addiopizzo, which encourages residents to stop paying protection money known as "pizzo" and visit a neig ... Show More
23m 38s
Oct 13
The everyday tech helping to prevent disasters
For International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (October 13th), we're finding out how technology can help prevent disasters, save lives and help rescuers. In Argentina, we’ll meet Franco Rodríguez Viau whose family friends lost their home in a fire, inspiring him to find a way ... Show More
25m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
C&EN Uncovered: Can tires turn green?
<p id="docs-internal-guid-ee6fb806-7fff-7c3f-bcaa-c1ca440dfb4a" dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font ... Show More
16m 5s
Dec 2024
Can rubber tyres really go green?
<p>In today’s episode for 17th December 2024, we tell you how tyre manufacturers are trying to go green and why that might be tougher than it seems.</p> <p> Speak to Ditto's advisors now, by clicking the link here - <a href="https://ditto.sh/9zoz41" target="_blank" rel="ugc noope ... Show More
8m 45s
Jul 2019
Rubber
Rubber is an everyday substance with a controversial past. Tim Harford tells the story of the innovations that made it a hot property, and the surge in demand that led to turmoil and bloodshed in an African colony. 
9m 59s
Sep 2013
Burn That Fat!
Fighting the fat can be a difficult issue - and not just for our waistlines. Old cooking oil from our takeaways and roast dinners can cause major problems - from polluting watercourses to blocking sewers and causing flooding if not disposed of carefully. But rising commodity pric ... Show More
27m 57s
May 2021
The dirty business of old car batteries
The recycling of lead acid batteries poses a growing health hazard in many developing countries.Vivienne Nunis looks at the case of Bangladesh, where a cottage industry has sprung up all over the country, with old car and auto-rickshaw batteries being burned in unsafe conditions, ... Show More
18m 28s
May 2023
Driven to Adapt
Electric vehicles have revolutionized the automotive industry and created a sustainable circular economy. Today in 2050, the internal combustion engine is a relic of the past. At the Paulista Grand Prix in São Paulo, race car driver Bela Tanaka goes neck and neck with Rahul Gonza ... Show More
27m 42s
May 2022
Could trash help solve Zambia’s fuel shortages?
They say necessity is the mother of invention… and that seems to be the case for one entrepreneur in Zambia. The country’s reliance on imported foreign fuel has led to years of price hikes and shortages at the petrol pumps – which lead in turn to panic buying. But Mulenga Mulenga ... Show More
15m 9s
Apr 2022
Wealth from waste: can urban mining save the planet?
Ivana Davidovic investigates urban mining - the process of reclaiming raw materials from spent products, buildings and waste. She looks at what new technologies are helping us to recycle waste and the benefits that could bring. In Antwerp, Belgium, she visits Umicore, once a trad ... Show More
17m 29s
Oct 2025
How to pull the emergency brake on global warming | Mohamed A. Sultan
Landfills across African cities are catching fire and releasing methane, an invisible greenhouse gas with more short-term warming potential than CO2. Sustainable strategist Mohamed A. Sultan reveals how local communities are turning this crisis into opportunity, diverting hundred ... Show More
13m 23s
Nov 2024
Chasing Arrows
Plastics production has doubled in the last two decades, clogging up our oceans and showing up in our organs. The massive growth in plastics production is also increasing CO2 output and driving up fossil fuel demand. Meanwhile, only 8% of plastic actually gets recycled, challengi ... Show More
30m 10s