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IF YOU OWN a rusty old bike, and you’re thinking about dumping it, consider giving it away to be upcycled and reused.
A new bike scheme, launched to reduce waste in Ireland, means you can now drop old bikes to the Estuary Recycling Centre operated by Fingal County Council for a small fee.
The bikes are then collected by the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun where they are repaired, redesigned and sold.
Paul Callan, a qualified bike mechanic and Recycabike programme manager, works on the bikes along with up to three others, who are all hired through FAS employment schemes.
If the bikes cannot be reused then their parts are. Image: Rediscovery Centre.
Tara Singleton, programme manager at the Rediscovery Centre, explains what they do with the old bikes:
We try restore, refurbish and repair the bikes we collect. If we can’t, we break them down for use of their parts. But hardly anything goes to waste. We try and reuse everything, we even turn old tubes into wallets during waste and education workshops.
We also run a whole bike repair service and teach children how to repair punctures themselves.
The bikes are then sold from the shop at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun where an upcycled bike will cost around €130, depending on the redesign and what people want.
The money then goes back into the employment and training schemes.
The rx3, rethink, recycle, remake initiative, funded by the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government, released this video showing how the bike reuse scheme works:
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The recycling of bicycle parts is a great idea. Its important that people can buy well built bikes at affordable prices. I hope this is successful and people are encouraged to cycle more. Sounds quite similar to Rothars model actually, though they don’t charge anything! If people can’t travel as far as the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, I would suggest one of the Rothar shops in either Phibsborough or on Fade St. in the city centre.
Rothar don’t charge for taking the bike I meant, they do charge for the refurbishment of course!
Charge me a small fee to take my bike, fix it up, and sell it for ?130? Haha get out of it. Why would I bother? They should be giving the donor a small fee, not the other way around! It won’t last long with that model.
Just realised that I read the article wrong! No way would I pay the small fee!
They can have my bike but they cannot charge me to take it off me if they are going to profit from it!
How very very silly!
I usually throw mine in the canal.
I take insanely huge photos of it and put them online..
Yeah, what’s the story with that?
Good to know Amy! As a mountain biker I’m always wonder what I do with all the scrap parts of my bike every time I repair it.
Especially the tubes!
You’re a tight shower aren’t ya? It’s not a profit for any individual, the article says the money goes back into training programs. So some off you would instead let your old bike rust away rather than pay a small fee that might lead eventually to some poor bugger getting a job. Generous much?
On another note, while the scheme sounds awesome I’m again pushed to ask a journalist to amend their headline to “What to do with your old bicycle… if you live in Dublin.”
No, take a look at the video. The small fee is at the recycling centre, and has always been there for large bulky items, such as bikes. The point people have a problem with is, they only need that small fee to help the process of recycling the bike if it is deemed unsuitable for rx3 to reuse. If rx3 reuse the bike and sell it for €130 for a good cause, that’s great! But they should refund the small fee for recycling as it wasn’t used to recycle your bike.
So it says the small fee is for the recycling of all bulky items. If your bike is deemed unsuitable for reuse, it is recycled as it has always been recycled, using your small fee as before. If however, your bike is deemed suitable for reuse by Rx3, where does your small fee go? Shouldn’t it be returned to you if they’re going to sell it on for €130?
I’ve put them in my shed. There’s nothing actually wrong with them.
How much do want for one?
I’ll take them off you for a small fee.
And what if I suddenly needed them? I’ll hang on to them. No one got rich by giving stuff away.
Yes, Rothar have been doing this successfully for years, and no need to pay them a fee to take your bike!
I left town and didn’t see her for 15 years.
I Came back and she had 6 kids and too much make-up. Otherwise was exactly the same!!
A good idea. The best is to sell the bike or give it away so it maintains its original use. Recycling is second best though.
Of course, this is roughly what the article suggests. Just wanted to emphasise that the best is to give/sell them in reusable condition.
Great idea, pity the scheme only in Dublin. Have a bike for scrap .
We will all be back on the bikes soon with the cost of motoring
What to do with an old bicycle ?? You could recycle it
have your say