By Kath Cochrane

OXFORD is no stranger to the problem of abandoned bikes. They litter the pavements and take up scarce bike parking spaces. The City Council and police in Oxford spend time and resources tagging them and locating their owners, donating them to projects, or sending them to the tip.

Over the two years to 2014, more than 800 abandoned bikes in Oxford had to be disposed of in this way.

This is an end result of our linear ‘take, make and dispose’ supply chain. Once bikes have ended up in landfill we lose all the precious resources locked up in the frames and components, as well as the time and effort of making the bike in the first place. Islabikes are best known for exquisitely designed bikes that children love, rather than as pioneers of a new circular economy. However, the latest venture from Isla Rowntree is to to make the ultimate utility bike that is never sold. The Imagine Project, which is still in an embryonic form, is a response to a future when raw materials are sparse. In this future the ability to reuse and recycle will play a much more pivotal role in our production of, and use of manufactured goods.

Bikes from the Imagine Project will only ever be rented to people. When the user has finished with the bike they go back to the Islabikes to be refurbished and rented out again.

This is a circular supply chain and means these bikes will never go to landfill. It could be argued that there are a lot of social enterprises that already recycle old and discarded bikes, take the wonderful Broken Spoke Bike Coop in Oxford for example.

However, this could be made more effective by taking the concept of the circular economy back to the design stage.

The Imagine project aims to build bikes that will last as long as possible, saying goodbye to built-in obsolescence. The economics of the project means that the longer the bike lasts, the more rental income is generated.

They will also build the components with longevity and refurbishment in mind, and with minimal waste. How it works in practice will remain to be seen; how the business can secure rental income over many years may be a significant challenge, but I for one, will be fascinated to see how it evolves. p For more information, and how to get involved in what will be an open source project, see www.ilsabikes.co.uk/imagine