Other partners | Bicycles, transport and safety

With the tangible increase in e-bikes in the mass market, it quickly became clear that a national solution for the user-friendly return and environmentally-friendly recycling of e-bike batteries needed to be established. The ZIV already established an industry system for the return of e-bike batteries in 2010 together with GRS GmbH (Gemeinsames Rücknahmesystem Servicegesellschaft mbH), leading manufacturers of e-bikes and drive systems and the bicycle industry.

Pursuant to the German law on the return and disposal of batteries (BattG), e-bike batteries are classified legally as industrial batteries. This means that they must be collected separately and recycled in an environmentally-friendly manner. The law states that producers must offer consumers a feasible and free opportunity to return and recycle the returned used batteries pursuant to Article 14 BattG. A return to public waste management authorities or municipal collection points was and is not stipulated in the legislation and therefore does not apply – unless the municipal collection points choose to accept e-bike batteries and register with GRS as a collection point for this.

The system that has been in place for years now makes it very easy for manufacturers and distributors/retailers as well as municipal waste disposal providers to participate:

• Manufacturers and distributors/retailers of e-bikes and e-bike batteries can register as a collection point for e-bike and portable batteries and ensure the free and safe collection of e-bike batteries for recycling through GRS Service GmbH.
• All municipal collection points can register as a collection point for e-bike and portable batteries. They can then also accept e-bike batteries from commercial sources.
  Free and safe collection is guaranteed here, too, via GRS Service GmbH.
• Further services of GRS Service GmbH: special containers for the collection of used batteries. Special dangerous goods regulations and high safety requirements apply for the transport of e-bike batteries and particularly potentially damaged old lithium batteries; these are of course complied with. GRS moreover informs consumers, manufacturers and retailers with the aim of achieving the highest possible return rate for recycling and reports the figures to the responsible associations and institutions at regular intervals.

For more information and to register, visit the GRS website.

Cargo bikes have become an excellent multifunctional vehicle and an important enabler in the necessary mobility transition. In Germany, many different local and regional funding options are available to private and commercial users wishing to purchase a cargo bike. It’s possible to save quite a bit of money.

To provide an overview of the many different subsidies, the ZIV supports cargobike.jetzt as a content partner and sponsor. The website lists 160 different subsidy programmes that are available in Germany and Austria for purchasing cargo bikes for private or commercial purposes, sorted by federal state; the list is updated on an ongoing basis.

List of subsidies compiled by cargobike.jetzt | Powered by ZIV – German Bicycle Industry