BIG INTERVIEW


TAKE BACK


In March the Bicycle Association unveiled plans to launch a UK-wide battery collection and recycling service. Daniel Blackham speaks to Stephen Holt to see how the scheme is progressing.


Stephen Holt F


or the adoption of e-bikes to be seen as a truly sustainable alternative transport solution, battery disposal will have to become a smooth process


and gain buy-in from the industry. In March this year, the Bicycle Association (BA) announced its intention to set up a UK-wide collection and recycling service for bike batteries.


The perceived benefits for this include: simplicity at retail level, reducing cost and complexity for bike companies and a clear and convenient way for customers to return batteries. “It’s been in the works for two years,” said Stephen Holt, retail trade manager at the BA. “We were approached by Bosch, who asked us to look at what trade associations have done in other markets. We had meetings with the trade associations in Germany, France and the Netherlands, and we found some commonalities across their battery collection programmes. “The trade associations in those markets - where they’ve been selling electric bikes for longer and in much bigger numbers than we have - had to get ready for the tsunami of end of life batteries coming their way.


“Each trade association sat in the middle of a collection www.bikebiz.com November 2023 | 21


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