Recycled aluminum: The transformation of the bike industry
15.08.2024 | Sustainability
As a material, aluminium has a range of properties that are perfect for constructing industrial components. Aluminium is comparatively light, remarkably sturdy and easy to process. It is corrosion-resistant and 100% recyclable. An estimated 75% of the aluminium that has been produced since the late 19th century is still in circulation today.
Aluminium is not an unproblematic material. The German Environment Agency (UBA) categorises the ore bauxite, the world’s main source of aluminium, as a risk material because the conditions for people and the environment are inadequate in many producing countries. What is more, the production of primary aluminium is an energy-intensive process. Just under 16,000 kWh are required to produce one tonne. This equates to slightly more than the annual requirement of three four-person households (assuming an average annual consumption of 4,500 kWh).
On the other hand, one tonne of the primary raw material can be used to make 242 bicycle frames, possibly more still depending on the percentage of recycled aluminium. The frame (4,123 kg) of our new Culture, for example, which is made of 46% recycled material, almost doubles this figure to just under 450 frames.
Use at Riese & Müller
We use the metal mainly in our bikes’ frames, which are made of 100% aluminium. There are also components, such as handlebars, stems, seatposts and carriers, which are either fully or partly made of aluminium. The weight of the frame alone means that aluminium makes up the largest risk material by percentage in our products. It is therefore also one of the pivotal areas for improvement. Over the past few years, we have focused on identifying the challenges of the risk material in our supply chain and figuring out ways for us to contribute to the solution.
While keeping our products’ quality standards consistently high, two of our most important responsibility goals in this regard are to reduce harmful emissions and to guarantee humane working conditions throughout our supply chain in Europe.
Roadmap of the partnership with Triangle’s and Hydro
The milestones on the path to the first frame with a high percentage of recycled aluminium.
| Q4 2021 | First discussion about aluminium with Triangle’s Cycling Equipments S.A |
| Q1 2022 | First discussion about recycled aluminium and ASI certification with Hydro Aluminium Extrusion Portugal HAEP, S.A. |
| Q2 2022 | First meetings with Hydro and Triangle’s to arrange long-term collaboration |
| Q3 2022 | Agreement with Triangle’s that future models should contain the highest possible percentage of ASI-certified recycled aluminium |
| Q3 2023 | Production of the first frame at Triangle’s begins: Culture |
| Q1 2024 | Production of the second frame at Triangle’s begins: Carrie |
Recycled aluminium
The recycling process requires just 5% of the energy needed to produce an aluminium alloy. The more we succeed in increasing the percentage of recycled aluminium in our frames, the more energy we save – and the more positively this impacts the climate. The Culture is the bike with the highest percentage of recycled material as of 2022/23 (more than half of the frame components, 46% relative to the total weight of the frame).
Recycled aluminium is currently used for components manufactured in an extrusion process (e.g. top tube and down tube). Cast and forged parts made of recycled materials (e.g. motor brackets and ford ends) are not yet on offer. The quality of the alloy is ensured using a material test certificate to verify the material properties. From our quality standards perspective, there is therefore no difference between alloys that do or do not contain recycled content. With this in mind, we will use the Culture’s frame as a benchmark for all bikes that we develop from scratch in the future.