Central Bedfordshire Council news and press releases

A ‘wheely’ successful way to re‘cycle’ your old bikes!

Thursday, 27 June 2019

We were once again thrilled by the response to our latest call for unneeded bicycles.

The Bike Recycling Scheme sees unwanted and outgrown bikes donated and then refurbished, made road-worthy and found new homes. The refurbished bikes are available to residents at low cost, or provided free to those on limited incomes.

Around 90 bikes were collected by the council this Monday at their Priory House offices near Shefford, and these have already gone to the workshop to be refurbished, ready for re-homing.

Bikes of all shapes and sizes were donated, including some rather vintage models. But it’s hoped that nothing will go to waste, and that even those bikes that are unsuitable to be ridden again can be used for spare parts instead.

This is a fantastic recycling scheme which gives bikes to help others who may otherwise be unable to afford them. We are always looking at different ways that we can reduce waste: encouraging residents to re-use and recycle their unwanted bicycles is a great way to achieve this. We would recommend any resident thinking of buying a new bike to instead consider buying a recycled one through this bike recycling scheme. And we hope that lots of residents bring their unwanted bikes along to our next collection event in August.

Councillor Kevin Collins, Executive Member for Planning and Regeneration at Central Bedfordshire Council

Since the Bike Recycling Scheme started in 2017, more than 350 bikes have been saved from the scrapheap and found new homes.

We work with outreach programmes, such as the Kings Arms Project and Noah Enterprises, and many of the donated bikes have helped the homeless or long-term unemployed to get back into paid work or volunteering. Other bikes have provided a source of transport and independence for children in care.

The next bike recycling collection is on Wednesday 21 August, from 11am to 3pm at the Travel Choices Hub at 1 Ashton Square in Dunstable.

If you have any questions about bike recycling, or you’d like to get a list of the bikes currently available, email the Travel Choices team travelchoices@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 01582 813018.