A new report by consumer advocacy organisation Choice highlights the need for greater responsibility for bike waste by ‘big box retailers’, according to the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) and the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence (PSCoE).
Choice commissioned the independent investigation through Revolve ReCYCLING, a New South Wales-based social enterprise that diverts bicycles from landfill through recovery and redeployment.
The investigation compared two bikes from a large retailer with two mid-range, branded bikes from a bike shop. Four Sydney riders used the bikes in similar ways over six months, including for bike commuting.
Key findings included: Cheaper bicycles are lower quality and have a shorter lifespan; a budget bike from a big-box store may cost more in the long run in repairs and maintenance; the waste from inexpensive bicycles piles up yearly.
“We estimate 150,000 ‘big box retailer’ bikes may go into the waste stream every year because they are of poorer quality and difficult to repair. Laid end to end, that ‘waste on wheels’ would cover 306 kilometres or the distance from Sydney across the Blue Mountains and through to Orange,” said Guido Verbist, General Manager of Revolve ReCYCLING.
“Cycling is great for the environment, as well as a sustainable transport option. However, better practices and policies for the waste generated from bicycles would add even more to their green credentials.”
Policy experts agree that there is an opportunity for a better environmental approach by ‘big box retailers’ who import and sell two-thirds of the nearly one million bikes purchased every year by Australians.
“Manufacturers, brands, importers and retailers should ensure the products they are putting out into the market have been designed to be durable, easily repaired and reused wherever possible,” said Rose Read, Director, PSCoE.
“Australia is behind many countries when it comes to right to repair legislation. This, along with lack of sustainable product design and investment in product stewardship actions to conserve resources, prevent environmental harm and reduce carbon emissions, are among the reasons why Australia’s reuse and recycling rates lag behind other countries.”
Suzanne Tombourou, Chief Executive Officer of ACOR, said recycling bicycles is an important alternative when the product reaches its end of ‘first life’ and it’s great to see that sector is now being serviced.
“But it’s our understanding that the cost of recycling a bicycle is higher than the revenue for commodity materials from a bicycle,” Tombourou said. “That’s why importers and retailers can make more of a contribution to their products’ sustainability. As with other sectors, such moves would no doubt be supported by consumers.
“We believe that more bicycles can be recovered, repaired, reused and recycled with the right policies and practices in place.”
Tombourou, Read and Verbist said they would make the results of the investigation known to the Minister for the Environment, who has a Priority List for Product Stewardship. Results will also be shared with the ‘big box retailers’ who, they said, have an opportunity to meet consumer expectations about environmental performance.
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