Every year, thousands of bikes are thrown away. Some of these bikes are in repairable and reusable condition and can be recovered for community benefit. Others can be stripped for usable parts and repair materials. Despite their remaining utility, many of these bikes often end up tossed away.
With support and funding from The Regional Municipality of York, Newmarket Cycles has operated the Recycle to Ride program since 2023. Recycle to Ride collects and repairs used bikes to return them to the public at no cost to participants. The Recycle to Ride program intends to teach people how to perform simple fixes and safety checks on their refurbished bikes and to get them back on the road where they belong.
York Region’s waste management master plan, also known as the SM4RT Living Plan, has a visionary goal of “a world in which nothing goes to waste” and includes an objective to “inspire people across the Region to embrace SM4RT Living and advance the circular economy”. A circular economy eliminates waste and pollution, and conserves resources; it is a shift away from a throw-away to a circular mindset to extend the lifecycle of goods, food, and resources through better design and continuous reuse, so nothing goes to waste.
You can help us in achieving the Region’s waste-free, SM4RT Living goal.
We are looking for used bike donations to help facilitate this program. Bicycle donations can be dropped off at Elgin Mills Community Environmental Centre in Richmond Hill or McCleary Court Community Environmental Centre in Vaughan.
Throughout the summer, we will be hosting a series of bike rescue clinics at our bike hub (470 Davis Drive) to teach repair and safety skills as part of the Recycle to Ride program. Members who successfully complete each clinic will then be allowed to keep the bike that they worked on at no cost.
This year’s Newmarket Cycles bike rescue clinics will be on:
May 29 @ 2:30-6:30pmFULLJuly 31 @ 2:30-6:30pmFULL- September 25 @ 2:30-6:30pm
Markham Cycles will also be hosting 3 clinics in 2024 and taking bicycle donations. Click here for Markham Cycles dates and location.
👉Click here to register for a Newmarket Cycles bike rescue clinic📝
Registration is mandatory to participate in a Newmarket Cycles bike rescue clinic.
Please note:
- Child and youth bicycles are typically available. The availability of sizes and styles of bicycles will depend on what we receive as donations.
- Newmarket Cycles is accepting donations of bicycles in any condition during our Drop-In Bike Repair sessions, Sundays 10am-2pm.
- Spots are limited and are first-come first-served, so please register early.
- Those who are not registered will not be able to participate in this program, but please contact us for more info.
- The bikes given away during this program are based on available stock on the date of the clinic.
- Bike rescue clinics will be held at our community bike hub in Newmarket.
- Click here to register for a bike rescue clinic.
Interested in learning more about bicycle maintenance? Sign up to volunteer with Newmarket Cycles as a bike mechanic here! No prior skills are needed.
If you wish to drop off bicycles in any condition, or parts, to Newmarket Cycles, please bring them during our Drop-In Bike Repair sessions.
Have questions about this program? Contact us by email at mvarela@cleanairpartnership.org or message us on social media.