The e-magazine Cycle Industry News reports that Madison – one of the UK’s leading bicycle parts and accessories distributors – had linked up with national tube and tyre recycling company Velorim in a bid to offer its retailers a channel to dispose of end-of-life tyres and rubber waste.

The magazine says that with the legislation on scrapping bicycle tyres now caught up with the same rules applicable to car tyres. Velorim set out to assist retailers in disposing of their waste.

Participating bike stores, workshops, hire schemes and cycle refurbishment centres can all now become local collection points. The rubber collected will be reprocessed into new materials, or re-used in other ways, with zero going to landfill and none exported. At present, the majority of the 30,500,000 used tyres and 152,500,000 tubes end up in landfill each year.

Those opting to take part will be asked to collect enough product to fill either a tyre cage (100 x 120 cm), a tyre bag for those with less space, or a tube box (30cm x 40cm x 50cm). Valves must be cut out of tubes prior to shipping. A tyre recycling cage will hold around 180 tyres, a bag around 25 tyres and a carboard box around 160 inner tubes.

For shops and workshops involved in the scheme there is an initial set up fee of £65 for tyre cages and £10 for tyre bags or inner tube boxes. Thereafter there are collection fees for the tyres and inner tubes to be recycled, which are as follows:

  • £90 per tyre cage collection
  • £16.50 per tyre bag collection
  • £20 per tube box collection

According to the magazine, shops needn’t foot the bill entirely though, reminds Velorim, which says that a small levy on customers asking for waste disposal is entirely acceptable.

Russ Taylor about Velorim | Video by Aston University.

“You can charge consumers an amount, for example: 50p per tyre and 20p per inner tube to recycle these with your businesses, or you can encourage consumers to buy a new tyre or inner tube in store and include the costs of recycling as part of the purchase,” says the firm.

Shops are able to request point of sale and merchandising materials ranging A5 information leaflets, an eco-banner, an A4 Strut Card or a dump bin for the tyres to be collected in for instore.

Unfortunately tubes that carry sealant or have multiple repair patches adorned can not be recycled.

Velorim notes that collections can be arranged by email at support@velorim.co.uk. Dealers can find a view and download a full list of FAQs by logging into Madison B2B and here.

Article: courtesy of Cycling Industry News.