Post-Consumer Tube Recycling

A few years back, we spent months collecting spent bicycle tubes, which were diverted from the landfill and repurposed as materials in the construction of a public art installation (made entirely from reclaimed plastics by artist Steven Siegel) that was facilitated locally by Providence's The Avenue public arts organization. Flash forward to today, and we are again collecting spent bicycle tubes of all sizes.

As a participant in Schwalbe's Cradle-to-Cradle bicycle tube recycling program (the first of its kind in the United States), we expect this to be part of a longer term solution for bicycle waste — these tubes will now be diverted from the landfill, and donated to a program that recycled these for use in the manufacturing of new tires and tubes. Want to know more? Come say hi!

From the company:
At Schwalbe, we believe that environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility, which is why we are committed to reducing waste and promoting a full, closed-loop recycling system. Our program is designed to reduce the environmental impact of bicycle tubes by recycling them into new, high-quality tubes.  This process decreases energy consumption by over 80% (including transport) compared to utilizing the same amount of virgin material.

For more information, visit Schwalbetires.com/recycling