Hydro signed a letter of intent with Brompton, the U.K.-based bicycle company, to deliver low carbon aluminum that will reduce both the weight and carbon footprint in Brompton’s range of folding bicycles. The aluminum provided by Hydro is industry leading with a low CO2 footprint, covering emissions from mine to metal. The collaboration will help Brompton reach its ambitions to reduce the carbon footprint of their folding bikes. The company is exploring applications for low-carbon and post-consumer recycled aluminum as a critical part of delivering these goals.
“We are proud to partner with innovative customers such as Brompton Bicycles on the road to zero. Our customers across industries are setting ambitious decarbonization targets and are queuing up to use recycled, post-consumer aluminum scrap from Europe in their products,” said Eivind Kallevik, executive vice president. Hydro Aluminium Metal. “We are excited to partner with forward leaning customers such as Brompton.”
Longer term, the two parties have both committed to developing plans to reach net-zero by 2050, and will Brompton will continue to explore options to increase the use of aluminum in its iconic models. The partnership aims to set a blueprint for both decarbonizing bicycle production and encourage end-of-life recycling.
“Incorporating lower carbon sources into all of our parts is a key goal for all of our future products,” said Will Carleysmith, chief design and engineering officer, Brompton. “We know how important material selection is for the sustainability of our bicycles, and circularity starts on the drawing board. Knowing that aluminum is a material that is infinitely recyclable, without loss in quality, designing our bicycles with more aluminum will make it easier to disassemble the bike after it has reached its end-of-life, and recycle the aluminum again.”
Hydro and Brompton will start their journey with the application of post-consumer recycled aluminum in wheel rims. Development trials are anticipated in Q4 2023.
Developing Folding Bikes
Brompton Bicycle was founded in 1975 by Andrew Ritchie, a young engineer who believed that there was an easier way to get around the city. With this intention, he invented a bike with an ingenious three-part fold so that it could be transformed into a small package and go anywhere with him.
Over the next ten years, Ritchie obsessively honed his invention and self-taught bike building skills from a small, rented workshop in a local engineering company — hand-making every bike to order.
His determination paid off when the Brompton folding bike won the coveted Best Product Award in the 1987 Cyclex Bike Show at Olympia, London. After that, the Brompton team hand-built 60 bikes a month — all-steel, black and fitted with a rack and by 1991 Brompton had 56 outlets in the U.K. and an even bigger export market.
More recently, the Brompton was chosen to represent London in the closing stages of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Less than twelve months later, it was awarded the Prince Philip’s Designers Prize for ‘outstanding achievement in design’.