A sustainable cargo bike now roams the streets of The Hague

The electric vehicle is on a mission to collect “lost plastics”

For a couple of days now, there has been a new hero in the fight against plastic pollution in the Hague. The electric CargoBike wants to become a regular visitor of companies in the Dutch city and collect their plastic waste, which is too difficult to recycle. The first one to meet it was Alderman for Energy Transition and Sustainability Liesbeth van Tongeren (main picture).

Helping companies with the lost plastics

CargoBike is part of the EU-funded project PlastiCity. It was introduced to the local authorities in the Dutch city on 10 July. Its mission is to “test the possibilities of making new recycled plastic products from [the] waste streams” of companies and broadly speaking – to introduce new and sustainable logistic concepts for the circular city.

The bike was developed by the Grondstoffenfiets Den Haag (The Hague Raw Material Bicycle) as part of the aforementioned project and was first tested with the face shield used in the Haga Hospital.

Properties of CargoBike

CargoBike is powered by electricity and its range is of approximately 150-200 kilometres. With a capacity of 7 cubic metres and an electric compactor capable of reducing the volume of commercial plastic in half, the bike can collect roughly 190 kg of plastic waste.

All types of plastics, except for hard plastics can be collected with the bike. In the future, it will be not only sustainable but also smarter, thanks to a module allowing it to label and recognize plastic. The latter is important, project partners believe, as companies will get advice on how to separate their plastic waste more efficiently.

This shall ultimately lead to a higher chance of recycling. Finally, the cargo bike can move cities one step closer to making better use of plastic waste as a raw material.