Bicycle recycling, where do we stand?

18 March is the world recycling dayThis is an opportunity for us to review the benefits of recycling and what has been recycled with our Teebike electric wheel!

What is the purpose of World Recycling Day?

To remind us how important sorting, recycling or upcycling is for our planet.

Citeo is one of the organisations that monitors the evolution of our recycling practices in France and even if there is still a long way to go, the figures are progressing, as shown in the infographics below.

In 2021, nearly 140,000 tonnes of additional packaging were recycled compared to 2020, partly thanks to the increasingly strong sorting reflexes of the French, who are beginning to identify the various sorting bins.

But if sorting plastic or cardboard is gradually becoming part of our habits, it is not always easy to know where and how to recycle all the different objects we want to get rid of. Fortunately, many websites and associations help you to know how to do it and where to go.

1/ Do you want to give, sell or exchange your objects?

Brocantes, Emmaus shops, Le Bon Coin... you probably already know the main players who allow you to give a second life to your objects.

But did you know that there are also structures that promote the exchange of objects ? This is the case, for example, with local exchange systems (LETS).

2/ And to throw away, how do you know where to go?

On the website of the Ministry of Ecological TransitionYou can type in the name of the object to be thrown away and find out what type of bin to put it in.

It's simple, practical and effective, and will ensure that your items have the maximum chance of being recycled to their full potential.

3/ Where are we with bike recycling?

Did you know that in France, we throw away about 1 million bicycles (generally in very good market condition)?

This is an ecological disaster because several types of components (elastomer and polymer materials, mechanical lubricants, etc.) cannot be recycled and are therefore ultimately treated by incineration or storage.

The waste stream generated by bicycles can be estimated between 15,000 and 22,000 tonnes per year, to which should be added the spare parts...

So what can be done to avoid this?

- If you really want to get rid of your bike, don't hesitate to check whether bicycle workshops or resourceries would not be interested in taking them back (for free of course 😉 ). These structures then generally recondition the bikes to resell them to affordable prices to as many people as possible. And if they are in too bad a condition, they can dismantle them to recover as many reusable parts as possible and mount them on other bikes or even make them into decorative objects that are original to say the least.

- Give it a new life by electrifying it ! The electrification of bicycles is often an opportunity for those who would have left their bike behind to get back in the saddle with confidence. Because the electrical assistance on a bicycle allows to manage your effort and therefore to consider the possibility of potentially longer but less tiring journeys (and less sweaty).

- And for this, the Teebike wheel is the solution the most accessible and simple ! Replace in a few minutes your current front wheel by the Teebike wheel, connect your new wheel via Bluetooth to the Teebike application and choose, via this application, the level of electrical support of your choice. All this for a average range of 60 km and a soft price of 795€, or approximately 2 times cheaper than a full electric bike with similar performance.

At Teebike, recycling is at the very heart of our history, so our primary goal is to enable our users to give back to their communities. their classic bikes to a new electric life instead of throwing them away to buy new (electric) ones.

We have thus enabled :

- A more than 5,000 bicycles in France, Switzerland and Belgium to be upcycled into great electric bikes by adding a simple connected front wheel

- At more than 500 bicycles to be scrapped to be reconditioned in our workshops

- To several dozens of people in rehabilitation to be trained to learn a new trade, that of the cycle, which has a bright future ahead of it.

In short, you have understood that this World Recycling Day sounds like an ideal day for Teebike to honour our electric wheel, but also all the solutions that exist to help you give new life to the objects in your daily life.

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