Where do tires come from?

On Tuesday we went to a rubber plantation. It had been raining so the factory wasn't actually up and running, but we were able to see what a lot of the process looks like.

The workers (mostly women) score and tap 350 trees a day to collect the sap.

It's taken to the factory and processed with chemicals in these vats

A machine presses it into sheets

Then it's smoked in a room (that smells like burnt rubber:)

It's then sorted, packed into bundles, pressed and shipped off to companies that make tires or shoes.