Cycling is and remains a popular activity and electric bicycles are especially popular. It is estimated that there are about 23 million bicycles in the Netherlands. Twenty years ago, this number was still 16 million. It is estimated that at the beginning of 2021 there were almost 2,5 million electric bicycles in our country. More and more people are purchasing an electric bicycle, whereas this bicycle was 'in the past' seen as something for the over-50s or the elderly, it is now very normal and the youth also ride it around. Many electric bicycles also mean many batteries. Does everyone actually know what to do with that bicycle battery if it is broken or exhausted, for example? 

If the battery of your electric bicycle no longer works, you should absolutely not throw it in the trash. The battery contains harmful substances for humans, animals and the environment. The bicycle battery contains all kinds of metals such as aluminum, nickel and copper. These metals are reused if you return your old battery to the right place. You can hand in your old battery at a bicycle shop or at the recycling center of the municipality where you live. If the bicycle shop is affiliated with Stibat, the batteries are collected by specially authorized drivers. 

The batteries are sent to the sorting center of Stibat and there they are sorted by chemical composition. There are 3 types of bicycle batteries: NiCd batteries, NiMh batteries and lithium-ion batteries. From here, the sorted bicycle batteries are sent to various recycling plants in Europe. In the recycling plants, the batteries are completely ground into granules and then the granules are placed in a vacuum oven. The heat from the oven is needed to extract the metals from the batteries. For example, spectacle frames and taps are made from the metals that are extracted from bicycle batteries. The residual waste that remains from the battery is also reused for asphalt, for example.

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