CIRCULAR design

Where others see a discarded bike with broken parts and full of rust, we see valuable materials. Circular design is a matter of perspective and needs us all to re-think the way we make stuff.

Designing products that can be 'made to be made again'. 
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation 

The entire Roetz concept is based on 'remanufacturing'. Founder Tiemen ter Hoeven was inspired by the automotive industry, where remanufacturing is common practice. 

Living in Amsterdam, Tiemen litterally stumbled over discarded bikes. Roughly one million bikes are thrown away in the Netherlands annually. A future-proof business idea was born: by re-working parts and materials that are too good to be thrown away, we give them a second life. Today, we achieve 30-40% circularity with our Roetz collection and 70% by remanufacturing the OV-fiets bike fleet. In 2016, we saved more than 20 tons of valuable materials with our circular production method.

re-thinking fleet management

Bike fleet owners such as bicycle rental services, hotels, corporations and alike face a number of challenges. Due to intensive usage, bikes are worn down after just a couple of years. When repair is no longer an option, many fleet owners decide to replace their bikes by new ones. As raw material prices continue to increase, fleet owners relying on the current 'take-make-waste' business model will see their competitive advantage shrink. Additonally, they miss an excellent opportunity to contribute to a better word and share a do-good story with their stakeholders. 

In order to survive as a manufacturer or fleet owner, you need to take a good look at the long-term availability of the materials you use today. If you don't start looking into a circular approach now, your costs will increase so dramatically that you will go out of business eventually.

- Tiemen ter Hoeven

future-proof fleet solutions

After an initial screening, the worn-out bikes are dismantled to individual parts. We sort-out and re-cycle all parts which are unsuitable for a new lifecycle. Re-usable parts are thouroughly checked and professionally cleaned.  After removing the original coating from the frames, a new protective coating is applied for a fresh and clean look. Many parts go through 'salvage' processes to prepare them for a second or third lifecycle. Finally, the bikes are assembled in our Fair Factory by our team of bike technicians, creating a 'better than new' bike for our customers. 

case: OV-FIETS (public bike Dutch railways)

For our customer, Roetz re-manufactures over 1.000 bikes a year in the Amsterdam-based Fair Factory. This is the largest re-manufacturing program for bikes ever in the Netherlands. 

We are proud that the collaboration between NS and Roetz resulted in a reduced footprint by 14,5 ton raw materials by re-using 70% of the old bike. Several technical and ergonomical  improvements have been implemented and NS is less dependant on increasing raw material prices. Most of all, we are proud to be able to give 12 Roetz makers the opportunity to learn a new profession through the production of this fleet.

Read more ▶