Embracing the Circular Economy

 

This autumn we are very excited to be kicking off a decarbonisation project, which is part-funded by the Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund, to look at how to reduce the carbon emissions from our bike ranges.

  

There are quite a few opportunities for improvement in our industry. Although the use of bikes is inherently very environmentally friendly, unfortunately, the way that bikes are made and shipped around the world generates far too many emissions.

Our decarbonisation project, which will be based in Pontypool (S.Wales), intends to help us find ways to extend the useful life of our bicycles and their components, bringing the best practices of the circular economy* to our supply chain. This will include increasing the number of uses for each bicycle, reusing and remanufacturing componentry to extend their life, and ultimately recycling materials when each bike reaches the end of its useful life. These changes will deliver substantial carbon savings by using fewer new materials (especially aluminium) within the supply chain, and by reducing the distance that materials are shipped around the globe.

We never want to see a bike consigned to landfill, but currently, it’s quite difficult to responsibly dispose of an old bicycle: there are so many different materials involved, that they tend to be scrapped rather than recovered. As mankind’s impact on the planet becomes ever more apparent, it’s becoming more pressing to find improvements to the old “take-make-waste” model, so we are determined to do whatever we can to use precious resources in an environmentally sensitive way. Frogs have always been green – but now Frog Bikes are taking steps to become even greener!

 

*For an overview of the Circular Economy see https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept