Many of these bikes can be refurbished and sold on to York residents at cost price, providing an economical alternative to buying a new bike and help reduce the amount of old bikes going to waste.

The council’s waste services team and Yorwaste are looking to enter into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a not-for-profit Third Party Organisation (TPO) or a partnership of TPOs to refurbish the bicycles where possible and sell them to York residents.

There has been no formal recycling service in the city since the Bike Rescue project folded last August. The reasons for its failure were never fully explained.

The Council now says, “We are interested in working with either a single group or a partnership of groups. We recognise that there may be more bikes than one group can manage or that it may be useful to have multiple groups with different expertise to make the project a success. For example one group could specialise in the repair of the bikes whilst another group could help find good homes and sell the bikes on”.

Councillor Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Environment, said; “We need to look at waste as a resource, and if there are community groups which can make use of old bikes, and give residents affordable options to go out cycling, then we would like to know.  This fits with our commitments to One Planet York on many levels and I hope that progress can be made.”

If you are a TPO or a partnership of TPOs that are interested in forming a partnership with City of York Council and Yorwaste please contact Sara Goodhead, Waste Management Officer,  sara.goodhead@york.gov.uk or 01904 553247 to find out more. Applications should be submitted by 24 February 2017