Cheng founded The Tyre Collective in 2020 alongsideSiobhan Anderson and Hugo Richardson.
The team spun out the company from a masters research project at Imperial CollegeLondon.
During our research we found that almost nothing was being done to curb tyre pollution, said Cheng.
It was like this invisible issue no one was talking about.
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We discovered that tyre particles become electrostatically charged due to the friction with the road, Cheng explained.
So we tried running a negative charge through the metal plates to naturally attract the particles.
That did the trick.
The patent-pending technology can attract up to 60% of a cars tyre particles.
It was also the market incentive The Tyre Collective was waiting for.
For companies like HIVED, the technology presents an opportunity to green their fleets beyond the tailpipe.
Were aiming for zero-emission mobility.
The Tyre Collectives machine is far from a panacea.
Nevertheless, Cheng believes the rig could become a standard piece of kit on all vehicles.
Its not perfect, but its a start, he said.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
