PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2021

OUTER PLANET 62 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 09/21 www.petpla.net OUTER PLANET Sustainable urban project – Muzzi Cycles Bicycles made from old plastic bottles Bicycles themselves offer great potential for recycling old plastics. The Brazilian manufacturer Muzzi Cycles manufactures the frames of its bicycles from plastic obtained from post-consumer PET bottles. Juan Muzzi, founder of the the company, had the idea of recycling bicycles early on, as he explained in an interview with Plastics Magazine: “I worked on a polyamide bicycle frame in the early 2000s. Over time I became aware of the environmental problems caused by plastic. I there- fore decided to make the frame out of recycled plastic”. The Brazilian company produces 132,000 bicycle framesper year. The post-consumer The right tools and expertise to help with your rPET goals! Agr is uniquely positioned to support your venture into rPET bottle manufacturing with a powerful combination of Process Control tools, Process Consultants, and decades of industry experience. AGRINTL.COM • +1.724.482.2163 PET, which now serves as the starting product, is crushed into small pieces for this purpose. These are further crushed and chemical additives are added to give the frame more strength and protect it from weathering. In the injection moulding process, the frame is produced within four minutes and can be further processed into a bicy- cle after cooling for five hours. The start–up idea 1998 was to develop an urban mobility from photo- synthesis for circular economy without the need to extract minerals, nor produce alumina and aiming to reduce the cost of CO 2 . In 2010 was the beginning of the injection process with PET and Nylon, perfected by 2016. Currently Muzzi recycle 15,000t of polymers, out of this they manufacture 132,000 bicycle frames. It is stated to save 980t of oil and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by approxi- mately 6,000t of CO 2 . The ultimate goal at first is to reuse the fossil fuel spread by society and then use renew- able sources with no need to extract minerals, thus making the injected parts organic to be absorbed by nature. 90% of bicycle components are manufac- tured in Brazil. The aluminum parts contain a recycles percentage. In addi- tion the packing boxes are made from recycled materials. The features of the Muzzi Cycles are that disposable plastic is reused, that a colour injection eliminates the painting and finally the bicycles are certificated with a lifetime warranty. They are produced with renewable energy sources from photosynthesis and manufactured out of recycled thermoplastic resin blends. The rust free cycles with an organic and com- fortable design eliminates soldering and shock absorber. Let’s padel on! www.muzzicycles.com.br www.plasticsindustry.org www.mobility-logistics.messefrankfurt.com