Shifting from a linear to a circular economy

Bike Europe December 2022

Shifting from a linear to a circular economy

100% recyclable frames, made in Germany

Isoco specialises in manufacturing high-quality plastic products for numerous industries. Seeing the need for change in the bicycle industry, the Germany-based company is making headlines with its 100% recyclable frames made out of carbon composite material. Is mass-production of European frames closer to becoming a reality? 

V-Frames, the bicycle frame arm of Isoco, produces carbon-composite injected molded frames with hollow volume geometries. This robotised, carbon injected molding technology allows a complete bicycle frame to be produced every 90 seconds. Aiming to cut supply chains from Asia, the company claims to have “the greenest way to produce carbon frames in the world.” Michael Mueller, CEO of Isoco explains more.

What specific problems did you come across when developing the ‘V-Frames’ technology? 

Michael Mueller: Our aim is, with a new material, develop a bike which is lighter than aluminium, which has better mechanical performance than aluminium and which is produced in mass production and 100% recyclable in Germany. So the whole development process of developing and designing such a bike is an ongoing process which we continue to learn about. The second important challenge is how to actually build such a complex mould for a reasonable price to allow mass production in repeatable quality with minimum amount of labour.

What percentage of recycled materials do you use in each frame? 

Right now we use carbon composite material. All of our material that we use currently has 100% recycled carbon fibres from the automotive industry combined with Polyamide. So already all our products we produce today use only recycled fibres. Also, at the end of the lifetime, we guarantee that we recycle our frames. That means we take back our frames and use them for new frame production or new bicycle frame component production. So basically complete circularity; we already use recycled fibres and we guarantee to take back products that we produce with our material.

“We are able to produce frames with 100% re-recycled materials”

Sometimes you add a certain percentage of new material to optimise the technical performance of the bike, depending on the specifications, etc. Do you expect to achieve a complete reduction of virgin material in future? 

Definitely. First of all, the material is extremely long living. For example, some of our customers give a guarantee of 30 years for the frames, so we’re not yet receiving any frames back yet. The moment we get a reasonable amount of frames back, we will, but we simply don’t have enough material back yet. We can produce frames out of 100% recycled material, re-recycled materials even. Of course, it depends on the frame geometry and the stiffness you want to have. We can also make any mix. For example a low step frame will have a different material mix than a diamond shape frame because you have other geometry to measure. Basically anything is possible. We work a lot on the materials so that each specific frame we provide to the customer will have a specific material combination which is optimal for the frame. This, of course, whilst trying to optimise the use of recycled materials, or re-recycled materials. But we have already done it, we can produce frames with 100% re-recycled materials.

How do you arrange the flow of recycled materials, including the collection of used frames? 

Right now, as far as I see it, the bikes are sold by the OEMs and then some years or decades away, they get thrown away somewhere. So there is no circularity at all in the industry for bikes. Our core goal is to change that because it is not sustainable in our eyes. So we have an innovative material, 100% recyclable which can reduce the CO2 footprint of a frame by 68% compared to aluminium. But now the next step is to create the circularity in industry. We guarantee to the OEMs that we will take back our frames and recycle them for new frames or other bicycle components and now the aim is that the OEMs now use this as an argument in the market. They can tell their customers that if you buy frames with carbon composite technology from us, you could get, for example, a voucher of €200 if you buy your next bike from us. In this way the system would change and circularity would become not only for bike frames. We also produce other components, for example cockpits, forks and other components, all with the same technology. For now our system is in place and it’s more about the OEMs. How they are going to implement it in the market and who is really pushing it through? We’ve already had some good feedback from the industry. I think Advanced E-bike is the first one who has really puts this system into the DNA of one of its bikes. I sincerely hope others will follow as the system today is simply not sustainable.

In terms of markets, where is you core focus for the years ahead? 

Europe is 100% the place to be in terms of environmental friendly production, in terms of awareness from the end customers and in terms of the need to implement such a system. We are focusing on how to break the supply chain from Asia to produce everything in Europe; producing ‘just in time’, in unlimited quantities. Also, our target is to produce everything CO2 neutral, with only solar energy from our own solar plant. Europe is therefore our focus for the next five years, but the Americans are to follow for sure; America, Mexico, Canada. This will be the next step on our list. Asia, however is still too far away, in terms of consumer awareness, but also from the price range perspective. So first, Europe and then America.

VELOSIONE, la empresa de los cuadro de bici eléctricos.

VELOSIONE regresa la producción de cuadros de bicicleta a Alemania con el lanzamiento comercial del primer cuadro de carbono abierto moldeado por inyección Carbon City-eBike.

Este resultado histórico es el resultado de 5 años de desarrollo de vanguardia de expertos de VELOSIONE, PlasticInnovation y COLEO DESIGN. Con la combinación de materiales compuestos de carbono y la tecnología de moldeo de fluidos por el moldeo por inyección, VELOSIONE ahora es capaz de producir marcos ligeros y muy rígidos con geometría de tubo hueco con una libertad de diseño hasta ahora no vista. Los marcos son 100% reciclables y tienen una reducción del 50% en las emisiones de carbono durante la fabricación en comparación con la tecnología de punta actual.

El Gerente general Harald Schweitzer dice: “Finalmente hemos alcanzado un hito definitorio en la producción de cuadros de bicicleta. Con nuestro primer cuadro Carbon City-eBike de molde abierto, VELOSIONE demuestra que en Alemania es posible la producción económica Justo a Tiempo de cuadros de superficie de clase A ligeros con muy alta rigidez. VELOSIONE produce 1.000 cuadros por día por molde; con un solo operador, se produce un marco completo en menos de 90 segundos, listo para ensamblar con un excelente acabado en superficie, sin líneas de soldadura. Con altos volúmenes de producción, el costo de producción de VELOSIONE eclipsa drásticamente el costo de producción de los marcos de aluminio tradicionales en Asia, y al mismo tiempo también reduce la huella de CO2 en más del 50%. Al mismo tiempo, los marcos proporcionan una mayor rigidez que los marcos de aluminio en geometría comparable. Esta es una revolución en la tecnología de producción para cuadros de bicicleta. Con esto, hemos traído de vuelta la producción de cuadros de bicicleta de Asia a Alemania, respetuosa con el medio ambiente y a gran escala. Nuestra planta en Saalfeld, Turingia, ya tiene la capacidad de producir hasta 3 millones de cuadros de bicicleta por año. ¡Esperamos ver el impacto extraordinario que esto tendrá en la industria! ”

VELOSIONE lanzó comercialmente su marco de molde abierto “CARBON ECOBIKE1”.

Las bicicletas de prueba completas también están disponibles.

VELOSIONE ofrece soluciones Llave en Mano para fabricantes de equipos originales, incluido el desarrollo de cuadros, la simulación de cuadros, el diseño de moldes, la fabricación de moldes, la optimización de procesos y la producción en masa en Alemania. VELOSIONE se enfoca en eBikes urbanos, de trekking, y para niños, y fabrica exclusivamente en Alemania.

Consultas por favor a marketing@velosione.com

NUEVA DIRECCIÓN DE LA PLANTA DE SCHMIEDEFELD

With the incorporation of Schmiedefeld into the city of Saalfeld, our Schmiedefeld plant address is changed to:

Eisenwerkstrasse 7 at 07318 Saalfeld OT Schmiedefeld

There will be a gradual changeover to the new address, while everything else remains unchanged. Please note the above carefully and feel free to contact us if anything is unclear.

ISOCO PRODUCE CAJAS TWISTLOCK PARA VERDURAS Y FRUTAS, COMIENZA LA PRODUCCIÓN EN CHINA

ISOCO has agreed with CABKA on an exclusive sublicense for the Twistlock Boxes and the Winebox. With this step, ISOCO enters the market for logistic boxes for retailers. Sales Director Michael Müller comments: “The collapsible Twistlock boxes are optimal for transportation of vegetables and fruit. With the patented active lock design we can provide an extremely robust box, yet it ranks among the thinnest boxes in the market to reduce transportation cost. Production of the boxes has started already in Summer 2018 in Schmiedefeld, Thüringia. We see an immense demand for such products, especially in China and Southeast-Asia, this is why we’ve established a new production facility in Shenzhen, China. We are proud to be already supplying well-known brands in China and are now in the position to further fulfill the huge demands. The major retailers in China highly value our design and quality, and for using only imported food-grade raw material in our Chinese facility for optimal safety. We have already ordered a second production cell for China, so we will soon be able to quickly deliver large made-in-China quantities.“

For further details of the Twisklock Box and Winebox, please visit our website and online shop.

ISOCO DESIGNA A UN DISTRIBUIDOR DE AMÉRICA DEL NORTE PARA LA LÍNEA DE PRODUCTOS WEINBOX

ISOCO is pleased to announce an exclusive partnership with St. Louise-based Domaine Storage. Domaine will be the sole distributor for Weinbox crates in North America.

The ISOCO Weinbox has emerged as the ideal solution for storing loose wine bottles in a wide variety of applications. Domaine will continue to offer these crates through their Amazon.com storefront and their website for small quantity orders. Wine retailers and storage facilities will have the ability to purchase higher volumes and bulk orders in 2019.

Domaine Marketing Manager, Brian McCann notes, “We are thrilled to work with ISOCO to make Weinbox more available to wine consumers throughout North America. For years, we’ve been huge fans of this product and sell as many as we can get.” He continues, “While we’ve spent countless hours improving our corrugated wine boxes for use in our facilities, Weinbox presents a great alternative that can compete with more traditional storage options inside and outside of the home.”

ISOCO brings experience and volume to the manufacturing process that will eliminate past issues of backorders, delays and shipping headaches. This means current and prospective clients can expect better availability, the opportunity for bulk discounts and decreased logistics costs to destinations throughout North America.

  • Weinbox crates are made from 100% recyclable material.
  • Weinbox accommodates numerous bottle shapes including Riesling, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Magnums and other odd-sized types.
  • With front and rear access doors, collectors can easily retrieve bottles even in tall stacks, as opposed to traditional corrugated boxes.
  • Weinbox provides a long-term storage solution without risk of cardboard fatigue, sagging or breakage that comes with storing in old boxes.
  • Weinbox has found fans among private collectors, wine retailers, wine storage facilities, wineries and even on cruise ships.

About Domaine:
Domaine is the largest network of wine storage facilities in the U.S. with facilities in Saint Louis, Chicago, New York, Washington, DC and Napa. Since 2003, Domaine has assisted wine collectors with procuring, storing, protecting and transporting their wine. Domaine is personally invested in taking care of its client’s wine with the utmost care. Their goal is to allow clients to enjoy their wine collection with ease and peace of mind.

Website:
https://domainestorage.com

ISOCO ESTABLECE UNA NUEVA UNIDAD DE NEGOCIO – FABRICACIÓN DE MOLDES

 

To provide customers with more diverse solutions, ISOCO has recently established a new Business Unit (BU) dedicated to supplying custom injection molds designed, optimized and tested in Germany. However, to leverage a more economical model that could potentially benefit customers as well, the molds were chosen to be manufactured in China. Needless to say, the process requires the most stringent project management and supervision to ensure the same level of German standard qualities are delivered.

After successfully designing and producing more than 150 molds and smoothly running for up to 4 years with our partner in China and key-account customers, we are now ready to offer this option to all our customers.

To further elaborate the new business unit’s setup – in order to fully monitor and control the quality of the molds, experienced mold service engineers are stationed in Germany and provides timely support when required. Any additional sourcing is handled directly by ISOCO in Germany to minimize additional work involved and reduce any potential risks.

For those who are interested, please contact us directly to inquire more details.