_196 2023 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT_MICHELIN 4 NON-FINANCIAL STATEMENT Sustainable Development Report Reducing harmful pollution from the use of our products: tire and road wear particles (TRWPs) Factoring in the environmental impact of its business activities is a major concern at Michelin(1). That’s why the Group is proactively engaged with the tire industry in analyzing the potential impacts from tire and road wear particles (TRWPs), the mixture of tire tread and road surface debris generated by the friction between tires and the road. Michelin carefully tracks the research being conducted worldwide that could serve to enhance scientific knowledge. Since 2006, with other tiremakers, the Tire Industry Project (TIP) has undertaken research programs to collect, characterize and understand both the composition and flow of these particles, as well as to assess their potential impact on the environment and human health. Its research findings may be found on the https://tireparticles.info/ website. A wide variety of studies commissioned by the TIP or conducted by other research organizations are providing converging signals that TRWPs account for a small percentage of total urban air pollution particles. According to a geospatial model of the Seine watershed, for example, only 2% to 5% of TRWPs released into the environment reach estuaries and potentially the marine environment. In November 2023, the Chief Executive Officers of the ten TIP member tire manufacturers approved a new work plan for 2024 and 2025, focused on: ● a new research cycle for deepening current understanding of how tires generate particles, sampling TRWP presence in different environmental compartments (air, soil, rivers and estuaries), modeling TRWP fate in the environment, analyzing their degradation and investigating their potential environmental and health impacts; ● an increasingly solution-oriented approach to generate data and methods to guide mitigation actions and the launch of TRWP-mitigation pilot projects. In addition to these studies, Michelin is conducting its own research. For example, BioDLab, a joint laboratory created in December 2023 by Michelin, the French national research institute CNRS and the University of Clermont Auvergne, is dedicated to the study of tire rubber degradation and biodegradation. It is seeking to better understand the tire degradation process stemming from their use, as well as to develop technological solutions for the environmental issues associated with the wear particles resulting from contact between road and tire. Similar research is being pursued in Europe by the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), which in July 2018 launched the Tyre and Roadwear Platform, a multistakeholder platform dedicated to sharing scientific knowledge and co-designing mitigation options to reduce the environmental impact of TRWPs. Working with representatives from governments, academia, non-governmental organizations and industries, it seeks to foster open, inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders, in order to holistically explore the TRWP challenge. In the United States, the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) has actively and voluntarily engaged with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DSTC) to advance the assessment of 6PPD in tires as a Priority Product under the Safer Consumer Product Regulations (SCPR). In December 2020, a scientific paper published by researchers at the University of Washington and the Washington Stormwater Center (Tian et al.) identified a transformation product of 6PPD they called 6PPDQuinone and alleged that it was toxic to coho salmon and could cause problems in urban watersheds. 6PPD-Quinone had not been reported in previous studies on 6PPD transformation products. Research on this subject is dynamic and continues to evolve. Lastly, it is already possible to start making a contribution to reducing TRWP releases, both collectively and individually. Collectively, by defining a standardized test and using it to remove the worst performing tires from the market by enforcing tire abrasion thresholds. To support regulation that would limit acceptable levels of particle releases from all tires worldwide, Michelin and other ETRMA members are helping to define a standardized TRWP emissions testing method. In December 2023, the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the Euro VII standards, which are designed to reduce gaseous and solid particulate pollutant emissions. Compared with current Euro VI standards, Euro VII is extended to wear particle emissions from brakes and tires. It contains an article addressing the reduction of particle emissions from tires through compliance thresholds, which could be based on the abrasion test method defined by the UNECE.(2) Michelin supports this approach, which will help to reduce the quantity of particles released into the environment. Individually, by developing innovations that enable the Group to design tires that help to further reduce TRWP emissions. Michelin has always led the way in using materials more efficiently. This process has driven a steady reduction in TRWP emissions from its tires. The Group is committed to further reducing overall particulate emissions from its new tire families. (1) See section 2.1 Risk factors specific to Michelin, description and related management systems/Impact 7 – Environmental effects of our products. (2) The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
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