Carbon fibre frame after frame after frame dumped high and creating a sight that would make you think twice about the bikes' environmental impact.
Here's a couple of photos that will worry any environmentally conscious cyclist with a carbon fibre frame.
They capture what looks like dumps of carbon fibre frames and wheels made of the material; most likely cast offs in the quality control process of a manufacturing plant.
To be fair, the presence of such a large amount of the material all piled high in one place does not necessarily mean the material isn't take off and disposed of responsibly or recycled.
But the manner in which the material is piled so high in the open air undoubtedly raises concerns about where this material ends its life.
Carbon fibre is not biodegradable nor is it photodegradable. And unlike the bikes of old made from steel and aluminium, recycling them is not a profitable exercise.
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The good news generally is that carbon fibre can be recycled, with many major bike brands offering to not only take back their own bikes to responsibly dispose of but also bikes made by other companies.
Specialized's website has a section explaining the carbon fibre bike recycling process.
It says while thousands of carbon fibre bikes end up in landfills each year the bike industry now has the ability to steer bikes away from the landfills and back into usable goods.
“The process of recycling carbon fibre consists of chopping frames into smaller sections, then burning off the epoxy that holds the fibres together in an oxygen-free environment," it explains.
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“This results in shorter fibres with the same properties as the original material, which can then be used in a variety of products.
“Besides keeping the frames out of landfill, we are able to recover carbon fibre while using significantly less energy than it takes to create virgin carbon fibre.
“To begin to underwrite the effort of establishing a take back stream for carbon fibre, participating Specialized dealers will accept carbon frames from any brand that does not have a take back system in place and recycle them responsibly at no cost to you.”
The recycled carbon fibre is made into other bike products such as pumps and water bottle cages as well as being used in the production of non-cycling related goods.
Trek Bikes has a similar policy, as does Giant through its partner Toray in Japan.
That's an awful lot of carbon fibre wheels to dump; you'd hope they are recycled somewhere.
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