Sustainability on wheels : bicycle repair activities in the relation to the circular economy

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Sustainability on Wheels

Bicycle repair activities in the relation to the circular economy

Bachelor thesis project

Sociale Geografie en Planologie

Suzan van Kempen

suzan.vankempen@hotmail.com

Student number: 10999973

Begeleider: prof. dr. R.C. Kloosterman

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Index

1.

Introduction ... 5

1.1 Bicycling in Amsterdam ... 5

1.2 The circular economy ... 5

1.3 Societal and academic relevance ... 6

2.

Theoretical Framework ... 8

2.2 Towards a Circular Economy ... 8

2.2.1 Evolution of the circular economy concept ... 8

2.2.2 Principles ... 9

2.3 Design and product care ... 11

2.4 Sustainable consumerism and income ... 12

2.4.1 Producers and consumers’ role ... 12

2.4.2 Relation between income and sustainable consumerism... 12

2.5 Conceptual Model ... 13

3. Methodology ... 14

3.1 Mixed methods ... 14

3.2 Quantitative Analysis ... 14

3.2.1 ArcGIS ... 14

3.3 Qualitative Analysis ... 15

3.3.1 Research design ... 15

3.3.2 Interviews ... 16

4. GIS Spatial Analysis ... 17

4.1 Similarities ... 18

4.2 Contrasts ... 18

4.3 Spatiality ... 18

5.

Interview Analysis ... 20

Principle 1: Preserve and enhance natural capital by controlling finite stocks and balancing

renewable resource flows. ... 21

5.1 Suppliers ... 21

5.2 Design ... 22

5.3 Dilemma I: A and B-brands: good and expensive or poor and cheap ... 23

5.4 Dilemma II: revenue model of big brands ... 24

Principle 2: Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components and materials in use at

the highest utility at all times in both technical and biological cycles. ... 25

5.6 Repair old or buy new bicycle ... 25

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5.7.1 Maintenance... 26

5.8 Component repair ... 26

5.8.1 Secondhand or new component ... 26

5.8.2 Fixing tires ... 27

Principle 3: Foster system effectiveness by revealing and designing out negative externalities ... 28

5.9 Choosing your associates ... 28

5.9.1 Bicycle repairers ... 28

5.9.2 Suppliers ... 28

5.10 TradeFRM Professional BV ... 29

5.10.1 Procedure ... 29

5.10.2. Obstacles ... 30

5.11 Dilemma IV: Theft risk ... 30

5.12 Dilemma V: dealing with neglected/abandoned bicycles ... 31

5.12.1 Previous set-up ... 31

5.12.2 Drawbacks of this set-up: ... 31

5.12.3 Suggestions: two options ... 32

6. Discussion ... 33

6.1 Limitations ... 33

7. Conclusion ... 34

7.1 Answering the research questions ... 34

7.2 Starting off right: a policy plan for urban economies... 35

7.3 Circular mindset ... 36

References ... 38

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1. Introduction

Riding a bicycle is the summit of human endeavour - an almost neutral environmental effect coupled

with the ability to travel substantial distances without disturbing anybody. The bike is the perfect

marriage of technology and human energy.

Jeremy Corbyn in The Guardian, 2007

1.1 Bicycling in Amsterdam

Bicycling is a prominent and substantial mode of everyday transport in the Netherlands (Rietveld &

Daniel, 2004). Of the Amsterdam citizens 58% cycles daily and all together Amsterdammers cycle 2

million kilometers every single day (OIS Amsterdam).

So, in short, why is bicycling in Amsterdam popular to such a significant degree that its industry and

extent are not comparable with other cities? OIS Amsterdam and the iAmsterdam Press Feature

“Amsterdam as cycle-city” (2015) give several reasons for this. The inner city that was built in the

seventeenth century has been designed for horse and carriage and is nowadays not convenient for

cars. Amsterdam is flat and relatively compact, which make transporting via bike very easy.

Amsterdam Marketing also claims that bicycling is popular due to the egalitarian character of Dutch

culture, saying that rich Dutch people tend to stay humble and modest and have no problem using

the same mode of transportation as the ‘normal people’ do. For many decades, bicycling has

increased in popularity (OIS Amsterdam) and Dutch people consider and have considered bicycling as

the norm for a long period of time.

Bicycling as low-carbon, non-motorized method of transportation is emerging in various cities all

over the world. As bicycling is considered environmentally friendly, healthy, fast and cheap, an effect

of the perception of Amsterdam as “bicycle capital of the world” is that other countries or

municipalities might look at Amsterdam as an example to follow. Often neglected or forgotten is the

fact that these bicycles need maintenance and repair too. Since there are more bicycles than people

in Amsterdam, is it not misleading to state that cycling is environmentally-friendly and that’s that? I

argue that this simplistic view has to be extended by looking at the entire production chain of

bicycles in Amsterdam and thus including bicycle repair activities.

1.2 The circular economy

According to Stahel (2016) there are three kinds of economic systems: the linear, the circular and

the performance economy. The first one is the linear economy, in which natural resources are turned

into products and materials and each step of the way value is added. When this product is sold, the

new owner and user is responsible for risks and waste and thus he decides whether to reuse or

neglect/abandon the product. Although this system is efficient in providing a lot of goods for a lot of

people, the natural resources are being exhausted which makes the system not sustainable for the

long haul (Stahel, 2016; Sandoval et al., 2017). The linear economy has been the prominent system

since the industrial revolution and while it’s intensive, efficient and fast, its technological and

scientific innovations neglect the depletion of natural resources and the long-term damage caused to

the environment (Sandoval et al., 2017). Further characteristics of a linear economy are low recycling

and collection rates, use of toxic chemicals, low levels of reuse and sharing, and short replacement

cycles (Suckling and Lee, 2015).

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The second one is the circular economy, which Stahel (2016)

compares to a lake in which materials and products are

reprocessed and therefore saving energy, resources and

waste. A circular economy cycles valuable materials and

products and produces and transports them using renewable

energy (EMF, 2015). Figure 2 shows the basic process of a

product in the circular economy. Eco-innovations are required

to lengthen the products lifecycle and transform waste to

valuable products. These eco-innovations are fundamental in

realizing the shift towards a circular economy because the

need for environmental resilience typically runs counter with

the tendency toward economic growth (Sandoval et al., 2017).

Winans et al. (2017) also state that implementing circular

economy innovations and ideas results in a ‘degrowth phase’ instead of the contemporary

‘growth-oriented phase’ of the economic system.

“A shift to a CE requires eco-innovations to close the loop of the products lifecycle, get valuable

products to others from waste and solve the needs of environmental resilience despite the tendency

toward economic growth.” (Scheel, 2016)

Attaining ultimate circularity (Potting et al. 2017) would be the ideal but is, in practice, not realistic.

This would occur when all of the materials used in a product chain are used over and over again so

the entire product chain is closed. Even in a performance economy, eventually new materials are

needed for the necessary maintenance.

The third economic system, a performance economy (Stahel, 2016), will be explained in paragraph

2.2.1.

1.3 Societal and academic relevance

The agency for research, information and statistics in Amsterdam (OIS Amsterdam) concluded in

2012 that 20% of the people who were in possession of an un-used bicycle just left it somewhere on

the street. Another 20% still had the bicycle in their shed or storage, while 25% left it close to a

garbage bin to be picked up by the garbage truck. Obviously, this doesn’t seem a sustainable and

efficient way to discard unused bicycles, especially regarding the fact that the materials used can be

recycled relatively easily. In other words; to say that bicycling as mode of transportation and

therefore everything associated with bicycling is environmentally friendly and that’s that, is a bit

blunt. The products and materials used for designing and repairing bicycles are made from natural

resources. Bicycle repair activities cannot be neglected when examining the greenness and

environmentally friendliness of the bicycle industry. This hidden but important layer of the cycling

industry in Amsterdam has been explored in this study.

Amsterdam is an extreme case in this sector as the Netherlands is a premier cycling country with the

highest modal share for cycling as percentage of all trips, and it’s the only city in the world where

there are more bicycles than residents (Harms et al., 2016; Te Brommelstoet, 2016). It’s a

scientifically and socially relevant matter as cycling and sustainability both are emerging as an

important form of transport in other urban areas outside the Netherlands as well. Moving from place

to place using a bicycle is considered environmentally-friendly or green behavior as it is a low-carbon

mode of transportation. Thus, as hopping on a bike is environmentally friendly, the contemporary

scientific literature tends to focus on planning the space in a more bicycle-friendly way and

stimulating people to use a bicycle. However, the repairing component is still in the early stages of

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research and scientific literature. Little to none research has been conducted to examine the bicycle

repair activities, a significant aspect of the bicycle industry. The geographically interesting

component of this study is that the repair shops have a local customer base as people have to

consider walking back home while their bicycle is being repaired. Hence it is plausible to argue that

the bicycle repair business says something about the neighborhood and its people, as it is a business

with a customer network that’s located close by. The local aspect has therefore been very significant

and important to bear in mind while analyzing the spatiality and the activities.

The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of the spatiality and the activities of bicycle

repair businesses and to find out in what ways the bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam already do

and can even more contribute to a more sustainable way of using and reusing materials. In this study

the existing and potential circular economy activities in the bicycle repair sector in Amsterdam will be

examined, keeping the complexity, variance through different levels and the heterogeneity of the

circular economy concept in mind. This results in the main research question:

How can we understand bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam in relation to the transition towards a

circular economy?

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2. Theoretical Framework

2.2 Towards a Circular Economy

The following paragraphs will firstly address the influences and notions that shaped the circular

economy concept over the years. Secondly, the principles and crucial elements of the circular

economy concept will be explained. Next, I will take a closer look at the actual repair strategies and

policies that could increase sustainability of products and product use. Fourth, light will be shed on

the relation between sustainable consumerism on the one hand and income on the other.

2.2.1 Evolution of the circular economy concept

Weetman (2016) provides a clear framework of the different schools of thought on the circular

economy concept using the schematic overview shown above. To achieve a general understanding of

the academic literature on the circular economy I will discuss each point in the above figure, starting

off with the influences that played a role in the evolution of the circular economy concept. Each of

the influences play a role in creating awareness and recognizing the need for transitioning towards a

circular economy:

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Natural Capitalism is a concept introduced by Paul Hawken et al. (1999). They imagine a new

economy (initiated by a new industrial revolution), in which natural resources and ecological

systems are being valued accordingly. In this new economy, businesses and the environment

have overlapping interests and by

1) increasing the natural resources’ productivity,

2) using biologically inspired models and materials,

3) improving service and flow business models, and

4) reinvesting in natural capital,

opportunity arises to adapt a ‘whole system design’ (Weetman, 2016).

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Walter Stahel’s Service/Performance economy (2016): the manufacturer is the person with

the liabilities and ownership of the products that are leased, rented or shared with the users.

The costs of risks and waste are for the owner and it would be advantageous for him to

prevent waste and profit from sufficiency and sustainability. Stahel’s Product-Life Institute is

the oldest organization on sustainable strategies and policies in Europe. They aim to

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accelerate the transition towards a circular economy and emphasize the importance of

selling services instead of goods and aim to internalize all costs.

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Another influence is the Industrial Ecology approach which involves the optimization of

energy and material consumption through ensuring that ‘left-overs’ or effluents from a

particular process become raw materials for another. By adapting production and

manufacturing, the materials and energy that are embedded in products and processes can

be re-used.

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The Blue Economy introduced by Gunter Pauli (2015) sees the solution in the physics of

nature itself. After all, he argues, everything is biodegradable if you give it time. Therefore

waste would not exist in the Blue Economy as there are no chemicals and other toxic

substances. Pauli claims that sustainable societies would “respond to basic needs with what

you have, introducing innovations inspired by nature, generating multiple benefits, including

jobs and social capital, offering more with less.” Between 2010 and 2020 the Zero Emissions

Research and Initiatives (which the Blue Economy is part from) aim to do 100 innovations

that are all openly published on their website.

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The Cradle to Cradle (c2c) concept was introduced by Walter Stahel but later on advocated

by McDonough and Braungart in 2002 and is about recognizing the technical and biological

value of materials. The goal is eco-effectiveness whilst innovation and economy are growing

(as growth is considered desirable).

2.2.2 Principles

The circular economy (CE) has been playing an essential role in the scientific literature on the relation

between the environment and the economic system. Sandoval et al. (2017) provide a framework to

derive a unified understanding of the circular economy from the scientific literature. The concept has

not been evolved and adapted simultaneously and similarly but differently across countries. In China

for instance, the concept is particularly approached as a method for profitable and efficient product

development and innovation, whereas in the UK, Denmark, Portugal and Switzerland the circular

economy concept primarily focuses on waste management (Winans et al., 2017). In North America

and Europe the aim of the circular economy is the three R’s that stand for Reduce, Re-use and

Recycle. Environmentally friendly products are often associated with these three R’s. Circular

economy initiatives have been implemented via top-down as well as bottom-up policies and through

different strategies. While there seem to be regional and international differences between

implementations and adaptations of the circular economy concept, all of them believe and follow the

bottom line “more circularity equals more environmental benefits” Potting et al. (2017).

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The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) is a charity that works in collaboration with businesses,

governments and education. In their report Towards a Circular Economy (2012, p.2) they state that

“The Foundation believes that the circular economy provides a coherent framework for systems level

redesign and as such offers us an opportunity to harness innovation and creativity to enable a

positive, restorative economy”. They publish articles and books and host lectures to create awareness

on the need to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. In their major report ‘Towards a

circular economy’ (2012) they advocate new, circular opportunities for businesses. In the EMF

approach towards the circular economy they distinguish between principles for action and the

fundamental characteristics of a circular economy. The three principles a circular economy rests on

are shown in the below model:

The overarching principles of the circular economy set out in the EMF report are:



Principle 1: Preserve and enhance natural capital by controlling finite stocks and

balancing renewable resource flows.



Principle 2: Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components and materials

in use at the highest utility at all times in both technical and biological cycles.



Principle 3: Foster system effectiveness by revealing and designing out negative

externalities

These are at the basis for transitioning towards a circular economy. The crucial elements or

characteristics of a circular economy necessary to achieve the three overarching principles are:

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Waste is food: Just like in nature, the waste of one species becomes food for the other. By

redesigning products and reusing the materials at the end of a product’s lifespan, we can

keep its materials at their highest value.

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Build resilience through diversity: again, like nature, there’s a lot of diversity in approaches,

support systems, resources and strengths. When companies, nations and economic systems

use their diversity efficiently, together they’re able to build resilience and resources.

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Use renewable energy: as many different, small and large actors are to work together it’s

essential to create effective and sustainable flows of information and materials. All of this

should be developed and powered using renewable or ‘green’ energy.

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Think in systems: by considering all different actors: people, nations, businesses on different

scales, aim to find connections between the ideas, people and places to create new

opportunities. People, planet as well as profit will benefit from these new opportunities.

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Prices or other feedback mechanisms should reflect real costs: the full costs of the negative

externalities should be internalized. This means that perverse subsidies must be removed,

and there should be no lack of transparency on these externalities.

2.3 Design and product care

To expand the lifetime of a product, maintenance and repair are necessary. As such, product care

postpones product replacement (Ackermann et al., 2018) which, in turn, results in the ability to keep

products in use for a longer period of time. This is ensued by a lower demand for new materials and

resources to assemble and manufacture a new, similar product.

The European Commission flagship program For a Resource-Efficient Europe (2011), recognized the

importance of sustainable design and recycling explained this in two sentences:

 “Improving the design of products can both decrease the demand for energy and raw

materials and make those products more durable and easier to recycle.”

 “Increasing recycling rates will reduce the pressure on demand for primary raw materials,

help to reuse valuable materials which would otherwise be wasted, and reduce energy

consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from extraction and processing.”

Put into other words, there are two ways in which the circular economy reduces demand for raw

materials and energy. The above model is generated from this and schematically illustrates the

presumptions. The first one is through improving design: by extending a product’s lifetime and

making it easier to maintain, repair and recycle (by an expert or by the consumer him/herself). This

results in a lower demand for new products, as the first product is less likely to break down (soon)

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(Van Nes & Cramer, 2005). Improvements in design include lifespan extension, easy end-of-life reuse,

sorting/separating of products and materials and in the process looking for potential by-products

that could use the ‘waste’ of the current product (EMF & TU Delft, 2016).

The second way is through recycling: materials don’t go to waste but are used over and over,

resulting in less producing processes as well as less waste processes.

2.4 Sustainable consumerism and income

2.4.1 Producers and consumers’ role

The amount of producers and companies who tend to follow up with the transition towards a circular

economy is increasing. Selling and forgetting products is being replaced by aiming for continuous

value creation and long-term relationships with their customers. This becomes clear in product

designs; as manufacturers make it easier for the consumers to repair and facilitate their product

themselves, as well as services; the amount of repair shops and online maintenance services are

emerging in various sectors (Wiens, 2015).

Although the producer’s role is generally considered more evident than the consumer’s role, some

suggest that the latter is underestimated (Piscicelli & Ludden, 2016). In order to successfully

implement sustainability strategies into the repair sector, both consumers and producers are to take

action. After all, the consumers are the ones who decide whether they execute repair and

maintenance activities as well as preventive measures (protective designs) on their products

(Ackermann et al., 2018). Ackermann et al. (2018) therefore take on the perspective of the

consumers to find what triggers consumers to take care of their product, what influences their ability

and what sort of events would play a role.

As for the consumers’ role in the transition to circular economy, the concepts environmental

awareness and environmental responsibility come to the fore. Yang & Long (2016) analyzed the

factors that influence the willingness to participate in a public bicycle system. Through their literature

review on environmentally conscious behavior (which can entail both participating in a public bicycle

system as well as recycling and maintaining your bicycle) they show that it is a complex issue and that

there is no clear consensus on which factors influence environmental behavior. Some scholars

however, argue for a relation between income and sustainable consumerism.

2.4.2 Relation between income and sustainable consumerism

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) (Grossman & Krueger, 1991, 1995; Heerink et al. 2001)

assumes that the more economic growth a country experiences, the more the environmental quality

of the country increases. The inverted U-shape of the EKC is explained through the scale-,

composition-, income- and technique effect as economic activities will generate more pollution at

first but the higher the income rises, the higher the demand for environmental quality and

regulations (Verbeke & De Clerq, 2006). Old techniques are replaced by new, more

environmentally-friendly ones and less pollution occurs as countries move from an industrial to a post-industrial

economy. This is, in short, what stands at the core of the EKC notion. However, it is a controversial

subject as it suggests that there are no environmental limits to economic growth and therefore

undermines the notion that economic growth has negative effects on the environment. Stern et al.

(1996) recognized this problem soon after the EKC theory appeared in the scientific literature and

find that the EKC is a too simplified theory to draw significant conclusions from. Particularly the fact

that the EKC does not include policy choices is seen as an important obstruction to the completeness

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of this theory. To validify the EKC theory, countries should be examined separately and more

thoroughly, inclusive of the policies, attitudes and motives.

Now, can we say that an actual Environmental Kuznet’s Curve might be applicable to individuals?

Numerous studies have found a relation between susceptibility of sustainable consumerism and

income. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (2006) found that consumers who

earn more are more likely to perform environmentally-friendly. Fisher et al. (2012) performed a

research study using demographic characteristics and a Likert scale to find how environmentally

friendly people perform and found that the higher the income the more likely people are to buy

green products. In a large study conducted by the Dutch Social Cultural Research Institute (SCP) in

2010 the underlying motives and attitudes for environmentally-friendly behavior are examined. They

find the factor that keeps people from buying environmentally-friendly or ‘green’ products is the

basic fact that most green products are higher in price than others. As it becomes a choice whether

to save some money or not and the positive effects of ones environmentally-friendly behavior is not

directly (or at all) visible, people tend to go for the cheaper, not environmentally-friendly option. This

shows that the independent variable income is plausible to have a relation with sustainable

consumerism.

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3. Methodology

This thesis’ research and the formulation of the research question is inspired by Giulia Squillace’s

master thesis on electronics and furniture repair activities in Amsterdam and the transition towards

the circular economy. Her thesis was food for thought to come up with this research, as the bicycle

repair sector might be the biggest repair sector in Amsterdam. While I’ve used similar methods as

Giulia has done, I bear in mind to approach and theorize the bicycle repair sector as profoundly

different from the electronics and furniture repair sectors.

The framework of this thesis has regarded different levels of impact of the bicycle repair activities.

Deutz & Gibbs (2008) see three different levels on which developments can take place, namely the

micro level (inside local businesses), the meso level (interconnected industries operate and

collaborate) and the macro level (looking at the entire region and the formation via institutions). By

examining the activities practiced inside bicycle repair shops, similarities and differences between

different shops and different neighborhoods as well as the bicycle repair industry as a whole and the

policies around it, I’ve applied all the mentioned levels in this research. This allowed me to find out

what interconnections and associations there are and what this means for future opportunities to

develop a circular and sustainable bicycle repair industry.

3.1 Mixed methods

The quantitative analysis functions as a supportive basis for the qualitative analysis. The study on the

bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam has been primarily based on qualitative research, but a

cartographic and quantitative analysis was necessary to ‘set the scene’. Therefore, the mixed

methods design I’ve followed is the embedded design (Bryman, 2016) in which the quantitative data

set provides a basis to explore the qualitative data. This allowed me to conduct research in a way

that incorporated the amount and the spatiality of the bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam.

3.2 Quantitative Analysis

In order to find data for the quantitative analysis I’ve made use of documents and statistics available

via OIS Amsterdam and Centraal Bureau Statistiek (CBS) to find out more about the location, age,

number of employees, activities and finances of the bicycle repair businesses. Once the framework

around bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam was mapped via GIS and ArcMap, the qualitative

analysis will focus on the ‘how’ and ‘why’. In this descriptive and ‘setting the scene’ component of

the study, I will aim to answer the following sub-question:

Where do bicycle repair businesses locate in Amsterdam and what are the relations to

socio-demographical characteristics?

For this study, I assumed that there is a difference in consumerism between high and low income

neighbourhoods. Whether the high-income neighborhood’s consumerism is more extensive, more

sustainable or something else was not sure. This explorative study will focus on the bicycle repair

activities and the ways recycling, reusing and reducing is adapted in the bicycle repair industry. As I

will focus on two contrasting neighbourhoods, I hope to achieve a representative understanding of

the bigger picture and therefore draw conclusions from contrasting opinions and theories.

3.2.1 ArcGIS

The first step in this mixed-methods analysis was to gain an understanding of the spatiality of bicycle

repair businesses in Amsterdam. Businesses that register to the Kamer van Koophandel (KvK)

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codes that are relevant for this research are code 47641 (bicycle and moped shops), code 46491

(wholesale in bicycles and mopeds) and code 9529 (repair of other consumer items, includes

bicycles). Assuming that every bicycle repair shop in Amsterdam has one of these three SBI-codes,

this means that all the locations of bicycle repair shops can be mapped and understood in a

geographical framework.

As there was no specific data file on bicycle repair businesses, I needed to create a new Excel list of

all the relevant businesses in Amsterdam. OIS Amsterdam provided me with an Excel file on the

names, addresses, SBI codes, XY coordinates and more data on all the businesses that were

registered under these three SBI codes. The first step was therefore to rearrange and modify this list

by deleting all the businesses that do not include bicycle repair in their activities.

Aside from that, I made a thematic map in ArcGIS on the neighborhoods in Amsterdam and the

average income per household according to the OIS data of 2015. I arranged the average income per

household from light red to dark red in 4 categories: under 31,700 euros per year, between 31,700

and 40,000 per year, between 40,000 and 54,000 per year and higher than 54,000 per year (the

highest ArcGis found was 87,900 per year). These are the average incomes per household per

neighbourhood combination in Amsterdam per 2015, shown in the figure below.

The last step in ArcGis was to add the bicycle repair businesses to the thematic map. By joining the

XY coordinates of the bicycle repair businesses Excel file to the thematic map, the points appeared

on the right locations. The analysis of this thematic map enabled me to sample the respondents for

my interviews; Amsterdam-Zuid and Nieuw-West seemed contrasting in terms of average income, so

I decided to delve into a comparison between the two districts.

3.3 Qualitative Analysis

3.3.1 Research design

The qualitative analysis was conducted after the scene was set around the bicycle repair activities in

Amsterdam. It was necessary to go out into the research field and conduct interviews with the

bicycle repairers themselves. These people are, after all, both the experts as the typical research unit,

as they know most about their profession and the bicycle repair activities they perform. It was

necessary to look for the characteristics of the repairers and their activities, in order to compare

them with others. Therefore semi-structured interviews have been conducted with six bicycle

repairers to get an image of their profession, the activities, materials and their attitude towards

recycling and re-using. Another interview has been conducted with TradeFrm manager Chris Kars.

The sub-question for the qualitative and explorative analysis is as follows:

What is the sustainability potency of bicycle repair entrepreneurs through promoting and employing

re-use and repair strategies of bicycles?

The methods used for the qualitative analysis are respectively observations and semi-structured

interviews. Observing has been an evident method in this analysis as it helped me to get an idea of

the businesses, materials and activities and therefore allowed me to further demarcate and define

what is meaningful for this study and what is not. For example, I’ve observed that some bicycle

businesses promote their second hand bicycle sales, or the possibility to interchange one’s old

bicycle for a discount on a new one. Critically observing the workplace also allowed me to ask more

specific questions on certain products or materials.

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Secondly, I have conducted semi-structured interviews with the bicycle repairers themselves as they

are both the typical as the expert research units and can tell me about what they practice, think and

experience as a bicycle repairer. The underlying structures and motives have become apparent as the

interviewees were given all freedom to talk about their activities, motives, values and ideas as I’ve

ensured them that interviews were 100% anonymous.

As for recruiting respondents, the definitive sampling strategy became clear after having completed

the cartographic analysis and having a clear spatial visualization of the bicycle repair activities in

Amsterdam. I’ve selected two districts that are in contrast with each other in income as various

scholars see a relation between susceptibility for sustainable consumerism and income (Yang & Lung,

2016). In this way the recruited respondents differ from one another in their motives and values and

this enabled me to distinguish from socio-geographical perspective.

3.3.2 Interviews

As for the interviews, the aim was to find bicycle repairers that are located in two socio-economic

contrasting neighbourhoods of Amsterdam. Obviously it would’ve been ideal to interview all or most

of the bicycle repairers of Amsterdam as this would’ve enabled me to draw general conclusions on

the Amsterdam bicycle repair sector as a whole. However I do not have the means and time to

conduct +- 300 interviews. That’s why I chose to interview bicycle repairers from Amsterdam-Zuid

and Amsterdam Nieuw-West. After all, this study is based on analytic induction so in other words, my

assumptions and ideas are not based on an existing theory. Therefore, it made the most sense to find

interviewees from two districts that contrast in social, demographic as well as economic

characteristics. There are obviously different methods and strategies to tackle the issue of the

spatiality of recruiting respondents, but for this study the interviewees will be based in

Amsterdam-Zuid and Nieuw-West. As a blanco sheet of paper, without assumptions of any kind, I’ve tried to see

whether there’s a relation between these socioeconomic characteristics on one hand and the

environmental friendliness of bicycle repair activities on the other.

The interviews each took between 30 and 45 minutes and were conducted in Dutch. As most bicycle

repairers work at an hourly rate, I suggested they talk to me while working on their tasks. Some of

them would do this and respond to my questions while repairing a bicycle, while others took the time

to sit down and drink a cup of coffee. Sometimes a customer would walk in and obviously, I would let

them interrupt the interview to get the repairer’s attention immediately.

First, I asked some introductory questions about the size of the shop, how they got involved the

bicycle repair industry, their experience and their employees, etc. After that, I focused on the

services they offer and touched upon the issue of either repairing an old or buying a new bicycle.

Subsequently we talked about the location, the neighbourhood and the interaction between the

people and the bicycle repair shop. In this part I also asked about the other actors involved in the

process, like the suppliers and the scrap collector.

The next set of questions focused mainly on repair services and the products and materials they use.

By asking whether they feel like their activities are environmentally friendly, they told me what kind

of practices and activities they perform that they consider being environmentally friendly. Aside from

that, their answers to this question showed me whether they knew what sustainability, circularity

and environmentally friendly behavior comprised of and, more importantly, whether they cared

about these matters.

In the last part of the interview I explained my model to them and asked them how they think every

of the four presumptions can be improved in the bicycle industry in Amsterdam. How do they think

17

the bicycle repair sector can become more sustainable? This is a bigger motivation for one than for

the other, but a lot of different opinions, answers, ideas and options were argued for.

4. GIS Spatial Analysis

Where do bicycle repair activities locate in Amsterdam and what are the relations to

socio-demographical characteristics?

The above map shows the spatiality of bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam. Seemingly, many of the

bicycle repair activities are located close to and in the city center, while surrounding neighbourhoods

have a smaller deal of bicycle repair activities. The greatest deal of bicycle repair activities is located

inside the Ring (A10) around Amsterdam and within this area some clods of bicycle repair activities

are visible. Solely judging by this map, it’s blunt to draw conclusions. However, it does show a

difference in the amount of bicycle repairers in high and low income neighbourhoods. The red and

dark-red areas have an perspicuously larger deal of bicycle repair activities than the pink/lighter-red

18

areas. This aspect aligns with the assumption that higher income residents tend to make use of

bicycle repairers more often than lower income residents. However, this cannot be concluded

without considering other aspects such as ratio’s as the amount of residents in a neighbourhood

plays a key role in the number of bicycle repair activities. Based on the 2018 report Standgegevens by

OIS Amsterdam, I will address the most significant similarities and differences between

Amsterdam-Zuid and Amsterdam Nieuw-West.

4.1 Similarities

The number of inhabitants (Zuid: 145548; Nieuw-West: 155781), the share 65 and overs (Zuid:

12,4%; Nieuw-West: 15%), the share of people aged 15-64 (working population) (Zuid: 105455,

Nieuw-West: 108971) and the average period of residence (Zuid: 8,9 years; Nieuw-West: 8,6 years)

are very similar. The fact that these numbers are corresponding accordingly between the two

districts, means that there is some sort of demographic base that fits both Zuid and Nieuw-West.

4.2 Contrasts

Zuid and Nieuw-West are contrasting on various levels. The most significant contrast might be the

ethnicity: while in Zuid only 18,7% is non-western, in Nieuw-West this number is almost three times

as large (52%). Aside from that, the residence density is much higher in Zuid (5194 dwellings per

km2), than in Nieuw-West (1982 dwellings per km2). Both districts have around 30% owner-occupied

properties (koopwoningen), but the average value of the houses in Amsterdam Zuid is twice as large

as in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. Also, The average household income per 2015 was € 45500 in

Amsterdam Zuid, whereas households in Amsterdam Nieuw-West had € 33500 on average. Another

significant difference that is relevant for this study is the number of abandoned and/or neglected

bicycles which have been taken to the bicycle depot. Between 2010 and 2017 almost 9000

abandoned or neglected bicycles came from Amsterdam-Zuid to the depot, while only 2419 came

from Amsterdam Nieuw-West. So it seems that , in general, people in Zuid abandon or neglect their

bike much more than in Nieuw-West. Considering the fact that they have approximately the same

number of inhabitants, is this an outcome of differences in income, mobility, or something else?

4.3 Spatiality

While it’s clear that these two districts are contrasting in many ways, both have the approximate

same amount of inhabitants and working population inhabitants and the people living in Zuid and

Nieuw-West also have almost the same average period of residence. The most significant differences

are found in ethnicity, income and residence density.

Can these similarities and differences tell us something about the spatiality of the activities of bicycle

repair businesses? Looking from a supply-demand perspective (number of residents <-> number of

bicycle repair activities) does not seem to be sufficient as there are various factors to take into

account. Because of the socio-demographic differences between Amsterdam-Zuid and Nieuw-West,

I’ve decided to conduct interviews with bicycle repairers in both districts, to gain understanding

through a spatial perspective.



In Amsterdam Nieuw West, there are 155781 residents who share 25 bicycle repair

businesses. Therefore the ratio is (155781/25) = 6231 people per bicycle business.



In Amsterdam Zuid, there are (145549/53) = 2746 people per bicycle repairer business.

19



To put into perspective: the 821700 residents of Amsterdam (OIS) share 299 bicycle repair

businesses together. The number of residents per bicycle repair business is therefore

(821700/299) = 2748.

These ratios show that there is a big relative

difference between Nieuw West and Zuid; Zuid

has 3500 more residents per bicycle repairer

than Nieuw West. Obviously this number is

disregarding circumstantial aspects such as the

number of actual bicycle users, customers from

other neighbourhoods, etc.

The fact that there are more bicycle repairers in

Amsterdam Zuid than in Nieuw West is also

illustrated in the figure on the right which shows

that Nieuw West residents fix their flat tire more

often by themselves (±34%) than Zuid residents

do (±26%) (OIS). Every bicycle repairer has a set

of tasks, composed via internal and/or external factors. One of the external factors could be the

income of the people living in the neighbourhood where the business is located. In other words, the

set of tasks of bicycle repairers in Amsterdam Zuid and Centrum is more likely to include fixing a flat

tire on a regular basis while the bicycle repairers in Amsterdam Bijlmer and Nieuw-West do this less

often. This example shows that bicycle repairers do respond to local demand and that there is a

spatial aspect to the activities bicycle repairers execute. This spatial aspect is of great importance in

this study, as the interviewees are selected based on the spatial distribution of bicycle repair

businesses.

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5. Interview Analysis

Various aspects on the relation between bicycle repair industry and the circular economy were

mentioned in the interviews. As illustrated in chapter 2, the three overarching principles for action

the circular economy rests on are (EMF, 2015):



Principle 1: Preserve and enhance natural capital by controlling finite stocks and

balancing renewable resource flows.



Principle 2: Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components and materials

in use at the highest utility at all times in both technical and biological cycles.



Principle 3: Foster system effectiveness by revealing and designing out negative

externalities

In this chapter I will link these three principles of the circular economy to the activities, statements

and motives of the bicycle repairers I interviewed. Looking at the bicycle repair activities of

Amsterdam through the perspective of Principle 1, it becomes apparent that this relates to

preserving and enhancing materials and resources through mindful practices. A sustainable approach

towards the origin of bicycles and its components involves the practices of the supplier, the design of

the product, waste policy and personal practices. Principle 2 relates to the three R’s of reduce, re-use

and recycle. As such, the utility of each bicycle and component can be optimized by maintaining it

properly and eventually re-using (parts of) the product for something else. The ‘waste is food’

element comes to the fore; every material ought to be recycled and used to its highest value. This

principle therefore relates to the re-use and recycle aspects of bicycles and its components.

Considering the bicycle repair activities in Amsterdam from Principle 3, I attempt to show that all the

involved actors are very much interconnected and each actor’s choices is crucial for the practices of

the other. The designated actors in the bicycle repair sector are the bicycle owners, the bicycle

repairers, the suppliers, the municipality and the company TradeFRM. The consequential dilemmas

that emerge, are solvable by thinking in whole system design and by cooperation between all

stakeholders.

Although these three principles overlap in many ways, they must be addressed separately to conform

the findings of the interviews. However, it’s important to bear in mind that principle 3 must always

be met when achieving to meet principles 1 and 2. Transitioning towards a circular economy is a

process that cannot initiate nor proceed or accelerate if different actors (i.e. businesses, residents,

organizations and institutions) do not collaborate and align.

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Principle 1: Preserve and enhance natural capital by controlling finite stocks and

balancing renewable resource flows.

5.1 Suppliers

Usually, bicycle repairers either purchase large amounts of components and materials or smaller

amounts only when it’s necessary (transport, logistics). Sometimes, there is no discount on larger

amounts of supplies, therefore some bicycle repairers don’t buy in bulk but just ‘fresh’ products

when they need them. These products need to be transported. If a truck full of products has to come

and drop these off every 3 days, I assume it uses more gasoline then when it would deliver large

amounts once every 3 weeks.

“Buying large amounts is not as interesting as it used to be. What are discounts nowadays,

20, 50 cents?! When I buy many different components for €100, maybe that will get me €1

discount. And €100 is a lot of money. So when would I use all those products, and where

would I store them. It’s better to order fresh products, say every 2 or 3 days, maximum one

week.”[1]

“Sometimes [I buy large amounts at once], when the price is attractive. But, as you can see, I

don’t have the space to store large amounts. I have this one supplier where I can order even

one bolt or one nut and it’s free delivery. So I like to see that as the extension of my working

place, my stock. It’s a comforting thought that with one push on the button, 24 hours later it’s

in my store. It always is.” [2]

To straight away classify this matter as not-environmentally friendly would be blunt as I haven’t

studied the suppliers’ modus operandi nor the transport. If the supplier was to deliver materials to

many stores each day with a completely filled up truck, it’s not not-environmentally friendly for

businesses to order small amounts as the truck is driving anyways. However, half-filled trucks with

small amounts of materials on the road, is not a very sustainable way of transporting in terms of

logistics as well as gasoline emission.

Renewable resource flows in this sense would include green energy, mindful waste and water

practices in the overall production and manufacturing in the bicycle sector. This can be done through

mindful design, waste policy and renewable energy initiatives. Whereas bicycle repairers often don’t

have the means or expertise to sustainably manufacture a component, they do have the knowledge

and expertise to assess whether suppliers are producing in an eco-efficient and environmentally

friendly way. This would require a more transparent industry in which bicycle repairers can

distinguish the sustainable suppliers and manufacturers. When bicycle repairers take up an active

role by demanding more sustainability from their suppliers and manufactures, the shift from a linear

system towards a more circular system will be accelerated.

The sustainability measures the bicycle repairers practice themselves, outside of the repair activities

also have to do with personal decisions and valuing eco-friendly options. For example, one of the

bicycle repairers used LED lights and had no heating in his shop. Others separate their (personal)

waste or have a battery bin. Another bicycle repairer in Amsterdam Zuid recently stopped printing

invoices and now digitally dispatches these. It’s important to recognize the fact that the bicycle

repairers are residents of Amsterdam at the same time and might have a very different attitude

towards sustainable measures in their personal and professional life. Some bicycle repairers separate

waste (usually metal from the rest), others don’t separate waste at all (both in professional as

personal life). Non-reusable iron is either collected by the ‘ironman’ or brought to the dumping

22

ground by the bicycle repairers themselves. In this sense, the role of supplier is played by different

actors such as the ironman, the energy company and more.

5.2 Design

The technical aspect of a bicycle and its components plays a large role in the lifespan of a bicycle. It’s

not as much about the design (because that’s been the same for a hundred years) but more about

the finishing off and assembly.

In the interviews the above model was demonstrated and explained. Discussing the design, there

were three stipulations that the bicycle repairers deemed essential for the first (extend a product’s

lifetime) and second requirement (make product easy to maintain and repair).

 German chrome is considered better than Chinese chrome

 The type of steel: cheap/ stainless or aluminum or carbon

 Lacquer layer: when it’s very poor quality steel it will stain when the lacquer layer is too

thin as this layer is protecting the steel. When one would first primer the steel, then

spray it three times with a special powdering coat and then lacquer it, it’s a lot better.

The bicycle design and maintenance can be linked to the Cradle to Cradle concept (McDonough &

Braungart, 2002) and based on the remarks of the interviewed bicycle repairers, the manufacturing

and maintenance can be tested among the five Cradle to Cradle principles set out by Weetman

(2016, p.18):



Material health: in terms of product health, bicycle repairers consider maintenance

essential. For both good quality and poor quality materials applies: the more it’s

maintained and looked after, the safer, easier, better and longer the bicycle use will be.



Material reutilization: The fact that almost all bicycle repairers interviewed have some

sort of policy of trading an old/used bicycle for a new (used) bicycle shows that the

material reutilization in the bicycle sector is relatively high. There are continuous flows of

reusing and recycling of entire bicycles and of its materials, generating one bicycle’s

waste for another bicycle’s material.



Renewable energy: for some of the operations performed by bicycle repairers they are

assigned to usage of different power and energy resources. Whether these practices are

powered by renewable energy is unknown, however an essential recommendation for

further research towards sustainability in the bicycle repair industry of Amsterdam.

However, some of the bicycle repairers did mention the fact that they are aware of the

amount of energy they use and actively strive to reduce this (however this is typically

practiced particularly for financial reasons, not for ethical or environmental reasons)

23



Water stewardship: The water stewardship was not considered in this study.



Social fairness: the strive for social fairness becomes particularly clear in the practices of

TradeFrm advocating “bicycling for everyone and with everyone” (paragraph 5.10). As

there’s a relative large deal of interaction in the bicycle sector compared with other

sectors, one could argue that there’s a greater chance to a high level of solidarity,

understanding and companionship in this sector. While this social aspect has not been

proven in the interviews, the interviews do allow me to note that all the bicycle repairers

emphasize the essence of trust between the two parties, ultimately possibly leading

towards high social fairness.

5.3 Dilemma I: A and B-brands: good and expensive or poor and cheap

Bicycle repairers have the expertise and knowledge to distinguish between good and bad quality

materials and components. These components should be chosen wisely, taking the resources and

energy in mind. Most of the time, however, this is not the case. While one of the circular economy

principles is that prices should reflect real costs, it turns out that the cheapest products are the least

sustainable as they are of poor quality and thus require more repair and quicker replacement. New

seems to be rarely any better than secondhand. Through the interviews I found that bicycle repairers

struggle to decide between good quality product replacement or new products. All of the emphasize

the importance of quality of the second-hand product. They distinguish between A and B brands:

“Secondhand is good, providing the product is of good-quality. […] Gazelle is the bicycle

A-brand of the world. If someone’s handlebar stem breaks down you can buy a new one from

Gazelle for 110 euro. I prefer advising the customer to buy a secondhand A-brand one over a

20 euro B or C brand component. [1]

The same bicycle repairer continued to talk about the trade-off between cheap and good products.

He argues that buying poor quality products doesn’t only disadvantage the buyer, but the seller as

well.

“Take this low quality component. We can give you any price, but won’t assemble it, figure it

out yourself. It wouldn’t help them and me neither, it’d just damage my name and image. [1]

Although large repairs are profitable for bicycle repairers as their hourly rate is charged as well

(which is around 60 euros an hour), it’s more efficient when people trust the bicycle repairer’s offers

and services. Therefore, most of the time bicycle repairers advise them to buy a new or new but used

bicycle, in order to avoid the risk that the customer has to return the broken bicycle once again. One

might argue that we can speak of some sort of conflict of interests experienced by the bicycle

repairer. Choose for satisfaction of the customer, choose for the most profit or choose for recycling?

As Sandoval et al. (2017) stated, the need for environmental resilience (in this case the lifespan or

quality of a product) on the one hand and the tendency towards economic growth (in this case profit)

on the other. Various bicycle repairers counterargue the general assumption that new bicycles are

always better, emphasizing the importance of good quality and A-brand bicycles.

“You know, preferably I talk customers into buying a new bicycle because that’s the most

profitable for us. However, personally I think an old bike is always better than a new bike.

You’ll still ride a 1970 made bicycle in a hundred years, nothing replaced; no tires, no chain.

Would you buy a new Gazelle, believe me, it breaks down before the end of the first year.” [5]

24

“See, when it’s a real brand bicycle with a good-quality frame, you can ride it for ten or

twenty years. In that situation, it’s better to refurbish your bicycle for €50 than to replace it

with a grandma-bicycle of €250. Doesn’t help you, doesn’t help our image. You paid €250 for

a brand new but a cheap bicycle and that gives us only B-brand bicycles with frames and

chrome from China, all 100% B-choice. You can better buy a second-hand, good-quality and

more expensive one.” [4]

Again, the conflict of interest becomes clear in the fact that some bicycle repairers admit their

personal preference towards secondhand bicycles over new bicycles. This can be related to the

transition Winans et al. (2017) address; from a growth-oriented towards a degrowth phase. It seems

that each of the bicycle repairers interviewed strive to find the right balance between selling good

quality products for a higher price and poorer quality products for a lower price.

5.4 Dilemma II: revenue model of big brands

In the interview with TradeFRM manager Chris Kars he emphasized the problem with re-using and

recycling certain bicycles and components. TradeFRM is a business circular processing of bicycles and

will be exhibited later in paragraph 5.10. When asked what mr Kars considers to be the reason why

it’s not attractive for bicycle repairers to sell secondhand bicycles, he gave an answer which was very

in line with what various bicycle repairers argued as well:

“The problem begins with bicycle manufacturers. Especially Gazelle and its sub-brands. They

do everything in their power to ensure your bicycle is not circular. When you refurbish a

bicycle, they lose revenue as you won’t buy a new bicycle. And [as a bicycle repairer], if you’re

not a dealer of Gazelle, you don’t get access to their accessories and components. We

produce about 15000 bicycles a year, but we cannot get Gazelle’s chain cases, because

Gazelle sticks with her own dealers. For Batavus and Sparta, it’s a bit better, you can use

other materials. However Gazelle, Cortina and Move are horrible! But of course, that is their

revenue model”

It seems that large bicycle brands like Gazelle, Cortina and Move design bicycles in such a way that

only components of that certain brand are applicable. While they do use good quality steel, the

wheels and other components are generally not considered being of great quality. However,

TradeFRM manager Kars recognizes that that’s simply how these large brands make money. The

consequence of specific design for application is that repairing such a bicycle becomes more difficult

and more expensive because bicycle repairers need specific materials. As such, this issue is being

calculated in the price for the customer which often makes it more beneficial for the customer to buy

a new bicycle instead of repair the old bicycle which is essentially of fair quality.

For large bicycle brands like Gazelle, the conflict of interest mentioned earlier (need for

environmental resilience <> tendency towards economic growth (Sandoval et al., 2017)) seems less

debated; the brands choose profit over environmental resilience and sustainability. In contrast to the

bicycle repairers who consider trust the most important aspect of the service they offer, the large

bicycle brands have more benefit by manipulating the material market in their favour.

25

Principle 2: Optimize resource yields by circulating products, components and

materials in use at the highest utility at all times in both technical and biological cycles.

5.6 Repair old or buy new bicycle

The choice between repairing a bicycle or purchasing a new one is dependent from different factors:

attachment, price, service and quality, convenience. All these factors play a role in making the

decision and all of them are context-specific. The bicycle repairers have a general idea on the

personal and individual motives of the client that come to the fore in contemplating a choice. When

analyzing the dilemma between repairing or buying, it’s useful to look at environmental behavior as

something that can also be influenced by situational and practical factors (Yang & Long, 2016). In the

context of bicycle repair activities these factors would encompass time-efficiency (does the repair

take three hours or three days?), price (depending on what kind of repair is needed, is it cheaper for

the long haul to repair or buy a new bicycle), location (is the repair shop 3 kilometers away while

there’s a new bicycle shop around the corner?) and convenience (is it easy to get there, do you trust

the bicycle repairer, do you know what your options are?). My hypothesis was that the better these

circumstantial factors get, the more people tend to choose repairing their bicycle over buying a new

one which results in more recycling, reusing and reducing. Do bicycle repairers have the potency and

the willingness to increase the attractiveness of a bicycle repair?

Some bicycle repairers mention the aspect of attachment when asked how people decide to either

repair their bicycle or buy a new one:

“Say, someone bought a bicycle for €150 and it needs a €120 repair. At that point you should

ask yourself whether it’s worth it or not. I always tell the customer, ‘you know, if you like

cycling on this one, just let me repair it’. I say this also with the environment in mind, plus I

use secondhand components to repair it.” [4]

“Well, it depends on the degree to which a customer is attached to his/her bicycle. I must say,

we always work very honestly, as in we always try to think with the customer to see what’s

the best or cheapest option. Most of the time they to go for assurance and certainty.” [3]

Others say people generally go for price, and some customers take the bicycle repairer’s opinion into

account:

“I give my advice on the current state of the bicycle and sometimes I advise them to buy a

new (or secondhand) bicycle instead of repairing their old one. Sometimes people already

know, sometimes we set up a cost estimation together, because I know the repair costs and

the exchange discount for their old bicycle. A lot of people keep riding old brigs.” [4]

On the one hand, we can consider this retention as bicycles being re-used and, as reusing is one of

the three R’s of waste management, therefore as a sustainable practice. However, it seems that the

bicycle repairers have a clear consensus on the conviction that it’s not sustainable for the long haul.

When someone keeps riding on an old dodgy bicycle and postpones either maintenance or the

purchase of a new one, the old bicycle slowly breaks down to a point that all components have no

future but to be processed as waste. Maintenance of a bicycle is therefore considered essential for

sustainability and safety, as will be illustrated in paragraph 5.7.

5.7 Dilemma III: vicious circle of replacing bicycles

The situation is as follows: people buy a cheap, poor quality bicycle. As it’s not a good bike, people

don’t appreciate it and therefore don’t get attached to it. Consequently, when it breaks down (which