Hydro has signed a letter of intent with Brompton, the UK based bicycle company, to deliver low-carbon aluminium that will reduce both the weight and carbon footprint in Brompton’s range of iconic folding bicycles.

The aluminium provided by Hydro is industry leading with a low CO2 footprint, covering emissions from mine to metal. This will help Brompton reach its ambitions to reduce the carbon footprint of their folding bikes. They will explore applications for low-carbon and post-consumer recycled aluminium as a critical part of delivering these goals.

“We are proud to partner with innovative customers such as Brompton Bicycles on the road to zero. Our customers across industries are setting ambitious decarbonization targets and are queuing up to use recycled, post-consumer aluminium scrap from Europe in their products. We are excited to partner with forward leaning customers such as Brompton,” says Eivind Kallevik, Executive Vice President in Hydro Aluminium Metal.

Longer term, the two parties have both committed to developing plans to reach net-zero by 2050, and will explore options to increase the use of aluminium in its iconic models. The partnership aims to set a blueprint for both decarbonizing bicycle production and encourage end of life recycling.

“Incorporating lower carbon sources into all of our parts is a key goal for all of our future products. We know how important material selection is for the sustainability of our bicycles, and circularity starts on the drawing board. Knowing that aluminium is a material that is infinitely recyclable, without loss in quality, designing our bicycles with more aluminium will make it easier to disassemble the bike after it has reached its end-of-life, and recycle the aluminium again,” says Will Carleysmith, Chief Design and Engineering Officer in Brompton.

Hydro and Brompton will start exploration of the application of post-consumer recycled aluminum in wheel rims. Development trials are anticipated in Q4 2023.