A pilot project at one of Europe’s largest wastewater treatment plants will examine how effectively municipal treatment processes remove tire and road wear particles (TRWP), a growing environmental concern linked to road runoff and particulate pollution.
The study, led by the Tire Industry Project (TIP) in partnership with the Greater Paris Sanitation Authority (SIAAP) and sustainability consultancy ERM, is underway at SIAAP’s Valenton wastewater treatment plant near Paris. The facility, which serves more than nine million people, is the second-largest wastewater treatment plant in Europe and was selected because its treatment processes are broadly representative of modern municipal facilities.
“This pilot is an important step in going beyond understanding the subject in the laboratory to field-based evidence,” said Larisa Kryachkova, executive director of TIP, in a statement. “We expect to identify best practices that can be applied far beyond this project, supporting TIP’s ambition to support science-based mitigation.”
Researchers will collect samples throughout the treatment process until the end of 2026 to determine how much TRWP is removed before treated wastewater is discharged. The project is intended to address a gap in scientific knowledge, as limited data currently exist on how wastewater treatment plants capture these particles.
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In many urban areas, stormwater and road runoff enter combined sewer systems before being treated and released into rivers and other waterways. Understanding the fate of tire wear particles during treatment could help utilities assess whether wastewater infrastructure can play a role in reducing their release into the environment.
The pilot will use laboratory techniques such as pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PY-GC/MS) to analyze samples collected at key treatment stages. Researchers plan to submit the findings to a peer-reviewed scientific journal, with publication expected in early 2027.
The project also marks the first real-world evaluation of one of nine priority mitigation measures identified in TIP’s 2024 white paper, Commitment to Addressing Tire and Road Wear Particles.
That report reviewed more than 50 potential approaches for reducing TRWP and identified nine priority measures spanning prevention, containment and removal. However, it concluded that none had yet been demonstrated to be effective specifically for TRWP under real-world conditions.
TIP said the Valenton study represents its first effort to validate wastewater treatment as a potential mitigation strategy outside the laboratory.
Sabrina Guérin, head of innovation at SIAAP, said the public utility expects the research to improve understanding of how tire wear particles move through wastewater systems.
“By taking part in this TIP study, we will gain an early, science-based view of TRWP movement in solid waste,” Guérin said. “The findings can help inform and accompany future treatment planning and readiness for upcoming regulatory requirements.”
TRWP are generated through the abrasion of tires against road surfaces and are considered a complex class of environmental contaminants because they vary in size, composition and how they move through air, soil and water. Researchers continue to study their potential environmental impacts and the effectiveness of strategies to reduce their release.
SIAAP operates six wastewater treatment plants, approximately 481 kilometres of sewer lines and eight stormwater basins across the Paris region, and treats about 2.5 million cubic metres of wastewater each day. The utility is also involved in water quality initiatives including restoration of the Seine River and programs focused on sludge reuse and biogas production.
