Engineers at Swansea University are investigating ways of recycling tyres to reduce the amount of rubber wasted.
Nearly 50 million tyres are disposed of in the UK each year.
Since July 2006 it has been illegal to dispose of old tyres in landfill sites, so new methods of reusing the rubber need to be found.
David Isaac, a reader based in the Materials Research Centre at Swanseas's School of Engineering, is leading a knowledge-transfer partnership project funded by the Department for Trade and Industry.