Plastic Innovation : EOOS makes electric tricycle from plastic packaging
EOOS, an Austrian design firm, 3D printed a prototype electric tricycle from used plastic.
The ZUV, short for ‘zero emissions utility vehicle’, is derived from 70 kg of recycled plastic packaging waste sourced from supermarkets.
Making use of a simplified design, the bike is powered by a rear-wheel hub motor, eliminating the need for pedals or a bike chain. The frame, once printed, only requires the bolting on of a motor as well as handlebars, brakes and three wheels, which can be fitted at a bike workshop of the customers choice. The replaceability of these items engenders the ZUV for reuse.
Another factor that ensures the tricycle’s sustainability is the fact that the plastic used to produce it is locally sourced. Bikes are generally manufactured in Asia and then shipped to Europe which results in significant energy loss.
EOOS founder Harold Gründ envisions a future where every city in the world has its own ZUV production facility.
The prototype tricycle has a longer than average lifespan as its plastic frame can be re-shredded to produce another ZUV should the need arise, right until the plastic deteriorates to the point at which that is no longer an option.
Sustainable not only in the sense of producing less energy in the production process, the light-weight vehicle requires less energy to operate whilst simultaneously being able to transport two adults as well as children on its bench seat or an equivalent amount of cargo in the transport box at the front.
"The reuse of post-consumer plastics is a big step towards net-zero carbon emissions," Gründ said. "Every new vehicle will be, in a way, carbon neutral as long as the 3D printer is operated with energy coming from renewables."
As such, the ZUV is not totally emissions free considering the amount of carbon expelled upon the production of the plastic it is sourced from- this problem, however, can only be tackled once the industry decides to forego the use of flexible plastics all together.
Gründ argues that his company’s electric tricycle represents the lesser of two evils.
"When supermarket plastic in Vienna goes to recycling, they're just burning it," he said. "And this creates another three tonnes of CO2 emissions, which we could avoid."
Electric bikes such as the ZUV trumpelectric cars, long considered the silver bullet solution to energy wastage on account of the fact that recycled car content is still scarce whereas recycled flexible plastics are abundantly available.