A correspondent on the Charles River Wheelmen bicycle club e-mail list reports that a company called Liberty Tire has started a program to recycle bicycle inner tubes. This is reported in the Journal Waste and Recycling News, but “[i]t doesn’t look like they have anything in Massachusetts.”
Bicycle shops must replace inner tubes, rather than patch them, in order to avoid potential liability risks. Recycling inner tubes will probably provide a net environmental benefit as it concerns repairs at shops.
The proposal could, however, encourage individual cyclists to replace their punctured inner tubes, rather than to patch them. The manufacture and transport of more inner tubes would probably increase the environmental impact vis a vis cyclists’ patching and re-using their tubes. Increased manufacture, transport and sale of inner tubes work to the benefit of Performance Bicycle and other suppliers, but are an environmental detriment.
It is often faster to replace a tube while out on a ride than to patch it (exception: on a wheel that is difficult to remove, such as one with a coaster brake), but a cyclist should always carry a patch kit anyway, in case of more than one flat. A punctured tube may be patched at leisure later, avoiding the need to buy a new one. A properly-patched tube is reliable.
Bicycle inner tubes in any case pose a much smaller recycling issue than motor vehicle tires.
The article from Waste and Recycling News follows. I find one statement in it really odd. The $5 offered per used inner tube is about twice the cost of most new bicycle inner tubes. Can this be right? I’ll leave it to you to figure out the consequences if it is!
Liberty Tire, company to recycle used bike inner tubes
June 17 — Liberty Tire Recycling of Pittsburgh has partnered with Performance Bicycle to increase recycling of old bike inner tubes across the U.S.
“By collecting and recycling used inner tubes, Liberty Tire Recycling and Performance Bicycle are providing cyclists with an opportunity to prevent the tubes from ending up in a landfill,” said Jeff Kendall, CEO of Liberty Tire. “The tubes we collect and recycle will be transformed into innovative, eco-friendly products that make people’s lives better and safer — everything from rubberized asphalt for highways to rubber mulch for playgrounds and parks.”
Through the partnership, people who bring their old inner tubes to participating locations will receive a $5 for each tube returned.
For information about dates and locations, visit the Performance Bicycle Web site.
Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Amanda Smith-Teutsch at 330-865-6166 or asmith-teutsch *at* crain.com.
Hi. I am living in Denmark and I am looking to find out if there is anybody out there that knows if there are hazards to recycling bike inner tubes into jewelry. I work in an institution with children and can’t find any information in Denmark as to if there are any types of poisons/hazards in bicycle inner tubes. We of course don’t want to use them if they have any type of hazardous material in them.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Now, that’s an interesting twist.
I did remember that there was a couturier who made an entire dress out of inner tubes, and I found a description and photo of it on the Internet — scroll down a bit on this page to see it.
Tasteful jewelry, no problem. Clothing whose entire purpose is to show off, which impedes mobility and must be treated with extra-special care doesn’t do much for me unless, perhaps, as part of a comedy act or drama.
I suppose that the rubber dress is less of a problem in this way than others shown — rubber stretches, and it is durable. But it doesn’t breathe like fabric — so sweaty! And that dress is very long — I’m trying to imagine what would happen when stepping on the hem of one’s own rubber dress. Now, there’s a comedy act!
Is rubber hazardous? I did find an article online about a couple of hazardous chemical compounds in the air of rubber factories, and it shows that these compounds are present in low concentrations in some products. Evaluation of the hazard of these and other components of rubber is outside my area of expertise. That’s a task for an environmental chemist.
Now I also found This article warning of lead and zinc in rubber from tires. Whether it’s in inner tubes too, I don’t know.
Everyone who lives near a major street or highway is going to get some dose of tire dust along with the other pollutants.
Better information on the recycling offer, thanks to Bruce Ingle —
The offer is limited to 3 inner tubes, for a total of 3 $5 gift cards, at newly-opened Performance Bicycle stores. Performance has been a mail-order business but now is opening brick-and-mortar stores at 12 locations around the USA. So, Performance will be taking a loss on the offer, but clearly expects to recoup it by attracting customers to its stores.
Velo-re from London makes belts from recycled bicycle outer tyres. I think they look cool!
http://www.swrve.co.uk/velore.html
Kalle
I ride my (motor)bike all year round, some parts don’t respond well to the wet/salt (our roads are gritted with rocksalt) so whenever possible I bind these with inner tube , good on upper fork tubes cut spirally/hellically to about40mm wide, and for other chrome stuff, good for cable ties too