Our original bike parking solutions were made from robust galvanised steel. When in 2010, we started working on Bike Parking 2.0, we made the important and environment-friendly decision to move to aluminium instead.
What are the benefits of aluminium?
Weight
A lower weight was one of the most obvious reasons to choose aluminium. Aluminium weighs only around 1/3 of the weight of steel with similar strength and that difference results in immediate environmental savings in transportation.
Resistance to corrosion
Aluminium is non-toxic and naturally highly resistant to corrosion as a natural oxide film is formed that protects it against further corrosion.
Steel requires more coating, painting or other finish treatments in order to protect it from rust or corrosion.
To increase the durability of our systems, we make use of 6063 aluminium alloy. This alloy allows for complex shapes to be formed with very smooth surfaces. Our aluminium alloy is anodized to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer and thereby provide further long-term corrosion protection.
Malleable and pliable
Although it takes more energy to create aluminium than steel, aluminium is much easier to handle than steel. It can easily be pressed in the required shape and sheets can easily be folded to create a shape with very strong characteristics.
In processing, the carbon footprint of aluminium is therefore much lower than that of steel which requires much higher temperatures, or much heavier presses, to get it to an intended shape.
Recycling
The most important benefit of aluminium is that it is easily recycled without any loss of its natural qualities. It can be reshaped, bent, reprocessed and can be used over and over again.
In addition, it takes up to 92 percent less energy to recycle it, than it takes to produce primary aluminium, further limiting emissions, including greenhouse gases*.
Most steel alloys can also be recycled but recycling steel faces the high energy requirements to make it into steel that can be used again.
* interesting fact: if you recycle a single aluminium beverage can, you help conserve enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for more than four hours.
Do you want to know more about your benefits with Bike Parking 2.0? Then contact our team and give them your dimensions. We look forward to showing you what you can do with Bike Parking 2.0.