A fully recyclable PP bicycle

11-Aug-08

Matt Clark, South California-based industrial designer has come out with a unique bicycle 'Innervision' which is fully recyclable, using virgin polypropylene (PP) to make a prototype. Hereafter, the plan is to make use of discarded containers and other PP waste to design the bicycle. Innervision consists entirely of reinforced and unreinforced recyclable polypropylene. The patent-pending bicycle features a two component frame: the PP inner frame and the PP outer structure, both dual components sets. Ideally, the material would be sourced from recycled plastic sources (previously used consumer products such as bottles, containers, etc) to reduce environmental impact and to reduce material costs. The Innerframe will provide rigidity due to an innovative internal spaceframe-like structure that features triangulation and molded beams which distributes weight and makes it strong. Additionally, this prototype, utilizes reinforced polypropylene for the inner chainstays. The ability to recycle was met by utilizing PP throughout the entire frame structure to ensure it is fully recyclable. This reduces the cost of production by reducing labour intensive processes while simultaneously utilizing a more affordable material. Also, the process of assembly using mostly automated processes would streamline bicycle production by providing pre-molded halves that could be joined using many different options like linear vibration, hot air welding or other methods).