Small stick on reflectors11/18/2023 " reducing waste by keeping valuable materials in the loop - remanufacturing and recycling - and making recycled content mandatory to create a market for recycled materials." "I do know that a couple of interesting EU laws have been adopted, the EU Battery Directive and the EU ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products) that are very much focused on extending lifecycles of products by improving durability and reparability," Bronsvoort notes. Is there any sign of change on the horizon? Whilst Eland did say that "there may well be valid safety reasons - to do with angles and percentages of reflected light, performance when wet etcetera - behind not being sufficient", he concluded: "it is really unfortunate that this broad-brush regulation imposes such waste (and cost) on all new cycle sales". When I reached out to Bicycle Association Technical and Policy Director, Peter Eland, he did tell me that: "where standards compliance is required it is possible to choose whichever 'corresponding' standard is most up to date." A spokesperson at the TRL informed me that: "As Brexit came not long afterwards, the net result is that there has been no change to anything and a de-coupling from European regulations." The Department for Transport is yet to come back to our questions regarding what became of these recommendations. This conclusion was reached ten years ago, three years after the piece of legislation which enforced their requirement alongside all new bikes. The review - in its entirety reaching 85 pages - concluded that simplifying the lighting and bell requirements was likely to have little cost or benefits, although it was generally agreed that most reflectors and bells were removed after purchase. The decade-old review makes for interesting reading, including the stakeholder views that the "requirement should be abolished because bells are useless in traffic" it was also noted that "most people remove after purchase" and that "if wheels were on a separate invoice they are not required to attach the reflectors". Its goal was to "gather, generate and expert-review evidence, from a wide variety of sources, and provide the DfT with costed, practical and appropriate options for legislative change". In 2013 the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) undertook and published a Cycle Regulation Review on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT). So why are we still sticking to these archaic rules? I'm not the first to ponder this question. But, like swapping reflectors for bike lights, many riders who actually want a bell will upgrade to one that's louder or more fitting to their requirement. “The UK isn’t even the worst, in France actual working lights - too often the cheapest lights with batteries,” he added.Ĭheap being the operative word here. With the legal onus on the bike manufacturer to provide reflectors - and most consumers choosing to make themselves seen via more reliable methods such as bike lights - as long as they are marked with the required standard, they'll be made at minimal cost, upping their chuckability status.Īt the top end, wind tunnel aerodynamic data wasn’t exactly calculated with the unbecoming reflectors attached to a racing beast, and even those using their bikes to get from A to B report removing them due to concerns over the highly probably impact of them coming loose mid ride.īells have become more popular of late. ![]() “They’ll go to landfill and very likely a lot goes to incineration and don’t forget all the ‘adapters’ to make, and all the packaging involved with these small parts,” Bronsvoort continued. “My experience is that people dispose of them,” confirms Erik Bronsvoort , Founder of Circular Cycling, an organisation working with the cycling industry to improve its sustainability record. "Many reflectors and bells won't even make it out of the box they come in before heading straight for the trash," he concludes. ![]() "As long as they don't require a specialist tool to fit, then they can just be given in a box with the customer comes to pick up the bike. "They don't even need to be on the bike at the point of sale," one bicycle retailer - who chose to remain anonymous - informed us. ![]() The upshot of all of this? A huge amount of waste.
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