All good things come to an end, and that means today’s hot new road bikes will someday be old news, outdated technology and just ready to be replaced (even Lance Armstrong’s road bike at the left). It might be hard to even think about it, especially when we see the sticker price on those new carbon bikes – but carbon isn’t exactly as timeless as a diamond, at least not in the processed form.
The downside is that many space age composites are designed not to degrade so easily. Carbon fiber doesn’t rust like steel, but unlike steel, aluminum or titanium carbon can’t be melted down as scrap metal. In other words carbon fiber isn’t exactly a “green” technology, but now it seems Trek is just one bicycle maker looking to get on the recycling band wagon.
BikeRadar.com reported recently that Trek announced a carbon fiber recycling program (just in time for last week’s Earth Day), and have completed a three-month trial program with South Carolina-based Materials Innovation Technologies. Trek has admitted that carbon fiber is difficult to recycle as there are different fiber types, different resin types and these all create challenges just for collecting, sorting, reclamation and reuse.
Good to see that someone is thinking about the end of life for products that many probably hope last forever.
[Via BikeRadar.com: Trek start carbon fiber recycling program]