part b // socio technical system · 2017-01-10 · the notions ‘socio-technical system’ and...

- Bicycles in the city of The Hague -21

PART B // SOCIO TECHNICAL SYSTEM

Changes in technology and science are strongly inter-twined with developments in our society. Together, these three aspects form the socio-technical system. This part elaborates on the social-technical system concerning bicycles. Part B presents a full overview of the waste stream regarding bicycles; the technologies, artefacts and parties that are related with the stream.


my in which they are embedded. Socio-technical and innovation systems can be defined as:Articulated ensembles of social and technical elements which interact with each other in distinct ways, are distinguishable from their environment, have developed specific forms of collective knowledge production, knowledge uti-lization and innovation, and are oriented towards specific purposes in society and economy (Borrás S. & Edler J., 2014).

6.2 Visions in the socio-technical system

Visions are systemic and closely related to the city as a socio-technical system. The realisation of new visions means concurrently the development of new approaches to the governance of systems change, new visions for transform-ing systems toward improved societal outcomes, and new insights into the possibilities and limits of democracy in an age of rapid scientific and techno-logical change. Exploring the role and nature of future-orientation in influenc-ing socio-technical change is more urgent than ever, as our collective ability to shape futures is increasingly outstripped by our capacity to make sense of our innovations. How can foresight trigger alternative imaginations of the evolu-tion of science, technology and society?

6.3 The socio-technical system pillars

Actors are conscious about the functioning of the ST&I system in relation to its purpose. This is a crucial aspect because when it comes to change, stakehold-ers will support different kinds of benefits resulting in either trying to change or to prevent change from happening (Borrás S. & Edler J., 2014). The biggest challenge is to realise how actors reach a mutual understanding of a transition context, in order to agree over the best course of action.

This chapter answers the sub research question: B – How does the current Socio Technical system of the bicycle stream work in The Hague?

Based on a literature study, this chapter describes the literature about the socio-technical system. Section 6.1 gives a definition of the socio-technical system. Section 6.2 describes the relationship between the socio-technical system and our vision. Finally section 6.3 introduces the three pillars within the system.

6.1 Literature on the social-technical system

Nowadays, science, technology and society coexist and are constantly shap-ing each other. In addition to those, socio-technical and innovation systems as well as socio-cultural and economic aspects have to be taken into account to get the whole scope. According to Borrás S. & Edler J. (2014) “The main elements of a system are new knowledge and technological artefacts, the individual and organisational actors that produce, adopt, diffuse and use knowledge and technological artefacts, as well as the various forms of infra-structure (physical, market, financial, regulatory, etc.) that enable that produc-tion, adoption, diffusion and use of knowledge and technological artefacts”. In particular, the complex interactions between those elements form the system, creating at the same time specific dynamics and stabilising it (Borrás S. & Edler J., 2014). The notions ‘socio-technical system’ and ‘innovation system’ (ST&I systems) refer to the fact that individual technical artefacts or innovations are not operating in isolation, but they are highly dependent on specific and complex ensembles of technical and non-technical elements in society and the econo-

6. SOCIO TECHNICAL SYSTEM


retailers and manufacturers. Thus, this pillar is an important factor in draw-ing a vision or plan regarding the governance of change; however, it will be the pillar with the least impact for the analysis in this report. Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that the feedback mechanisms are essential and of utmost importance of evaluating a change so that it is improved.

The start of innovative initiatives with regards to bikes in The Netherlands can be dated back to 1960’s when for the first time an idea was floated to provide 20,000 free bikes in the city which would be unlocked, so that they could be used by anyone at any time. This initiative was called the Witte Fietsenplan, and a pioneering work was done by Luud Schimmelpennink to float this ini-tiative. Due to the then local council’s decision it was a short lived plan. The council argued that the bicycles were a thing from the past and cars are the future where the Dutch government should concentrate (theguardian, n.d.).

The times have changed and The Netherlands has seen a massive revolution in the bike industry, so much so that there is a higher number of bikes than the entire countries population. With changing times and environment, time has come to start thinking of how the number of bikes being manufactured can be limited by making use of the available ones to their fullest extent. The waste generated from the wrecked bikes is a big problem and efforts are on to fix them.

After having analyzed the initiatives matrix in the previous section, the actual socio-technical impact of these initiatives needs to be understood. The ini-tiatives can be broadly classified into recycled bike selling and bike sharing/rental. Companies like Biesieklette are engaged into both these activities with a primary focus on renting, while swap fiets are into renting of the bikes. Al-though there is a lot of awareness in the society with regards to sustainability,

This is the main reason why the governance of change of the socio-technical system should be taken into account when creating a new vision. Therefore, a conceptual framework that focuses on the governance of change in a so-cio-technical system is needed. This framework consists of three main pillars as shown in Figure 5 (Borrás S. & Edler J., 2014):• the opportunity structures and capable agents in a system • the instrumentation of governance of change • the legitimacy and acceptance of change

Firstly, it is important to investigate who and what drives the change to a more circular bicycle usage in The Hague. Therefore, the interviews with the businesses, organizations and circular initiatives as well as the information gathered during the field research in assignment 1 are used. Secondly, in order to find out how this change is influenced, it is important to look at policies, subsidies and market protection for factors inducing change.

The role of the municipality and national government plays a vital role in this part. However, it is crucial to take into account that the boundaries of state and non-state action are becoming blurred (Borrás S. & Edler J., 2014). This pillar also refers to the measures and instruments which can be taken to initiate transition and change. One of the most important measures is to build relationships between the different initiatives and parties within the system to create a consensus on the overall vision and actions to take. Finally, it is essential to explore why a change is accepted (or not). Socio-technical systems are legitimate only if they enjoy wide social acceptance and support (Borrás S. & Edler J., 2014). Many people are becoming aware of the negative effects of waste, but a transition towards a waste less city requires some heavy adjust-ments in our view on products and ownership; for consumer as well as for


recycling and reuse of waste, the sense of ownership is the main impact on the society that needs to be changed for a better future. Along with this, there are various other factors like culture, ethnicity, social status which refrain peo-ple from being a part of such initiatives. Efforts must be put in to erase such social norms and motivate people in the right sense. More and more people should be convinced to shift from using cars to bikes, by educating them about the climate change and more importantly about the health benefits which could be gained by exercising regularly just by using bikes.

The second most significant impact is on the infrastructure of the city with the increasing number of bikes and vehicles. It is the responsibility of the council to take into account the issues which arise due to over flooding of streets with bikes, making it difficult for the pedestrians to commute. Special by-lanes, streets, traffic lights and traffic controlling personnel have to be deployed. The welfare and consent of the residents is needed to propose new plans. The council should seek advice and collaborate with companies which provide rental services, as these companies know better what’s happening on the ground level.


This chapter discusses the chosen product within the waste stream low tech artefacts; the bicycle in The Hague. The current system of the bicycle is ana-lysed; section 7.1 describes the current product, section 7.2. The pillars intro-duced in chapter 6 are used throughout this chapter to present the current system.

7.1 The product

The bicycle has been around since the 19th century and is now fully integrated in our society as transport method, children toys, fitness and racing. Although the various uses ask for various designs, the basic shape, system and materials stay roughly the same.

The main bicycle’s components are two wheels attached to a frame with a saddle and steering gear and a chain with pedals. A detailed description of its parts can be seen in Figure 3. The various parts of a bike can be classified broadly into its frame, wheels, drivetrain, cabling and the peripherals which add to the aesthetics of it.

1. Frame: it forms the main body of the bike with the fork, saddle, stem, headset, handlebars ad suspension mounted on it. The material used for manufacturing the frame has not change much over-time. Traditionally the frame is made out of metal alloys and by the 1980s of aluminium alloys. Aluminium alloys are preferred in general because of their low density and the better strength to weight ratio they offer. Frames are also produce by using steel alloys to a large extent, because it is strong, easy to work and relatively less expensive. Today, the bike frame is produced with car-bon fibre because of its light weight and anti-corrosive properties, but due to its high costs, aluminium alloys are still dominant in the market. Some recent

7. THE CURRENT BICYCLE WASTE STREAM

Figure 2: Bicycle parts

initiatives have seen the addition of bamboo (in form of solid or laminate) and cardboard as a promising material for frame manufacturing. Even though the actual frame is seeing newer materials being added, for things like the suspension and the handlebars, aluminium alloys are preferred. The saddle or the seat is usually made out of polymers or plastics which are then covered with foam to provide comfort and are rubber finished to be re-sistant against bad weather conditions.

2. Wheel: it comprises of the tire, spokes, the spoke nipple, valve stem. In the good old days, the conventional wheels were manufactured from wood, but due to the wearing associated with it and the need to faster transport, steel has replaced wood since a long time now. Depending on certain fac-tors like aerodynamics, weight, stiffness and bearing smoothness, aluminium


7.2 Usage in the Netherlands & The Hague (ISHAN)

Bicycles being one of the modes of transportation with zero CO2 emissions, their popularity is gaining momentum. In The Netherlands, the bicycle is a very common way of transportation as 26% of the transports is realised by bikes (fietsbond). Transportation is the main driver but recreational cyclers are also a big part of the user.

According to a RAI survey (RAI Vereniging, n.d.), there are nearly 22 million bicycles in the Netherlands. More than 85% of the population has at least one bike. On an average every household has more than three bikes, assuming that 6.4 million households are in Netherlands. Nearly 1 million bikes need to be replaced per year, considering an average life of 13 years per bike (the-guardian, n.d.). These numbers reflect the market size of bicycle industry in The Netherlands, and the amount of waste that is created which should be

alloys, thermoplastics and carbon fibre are preferred. This is mainly dependent on the type of bike, eg, mountain, racing etc, for specific purposes. Usually, to facilitate the biking experience, lighter materials are preferred for the rim, so a lot of aluminium is use for spokes and spoke nipple manufacturing.The tire which surrounds the wheel is usually made out of rubber, which now-adays is made out of polymeric blends to provide greater friction resistance and durability and toughness. There is also a tube present in the tire which fills the gap between the wheel and the tire. Of late, tubeless tires are becoming more popular.

3. The drivetrain: it is the component which makes the motion happen, and consists of pedals, crankset, chain, gear case , sprocket and hub gears. The drivetrain is one of the major load bearing parts of a bike , which also hoists the chain crankset and the gear case. A tougher steel alloy is preferred for this device which also should be non-corrosive.

4. Cabling is made up of shifter, cable guide brake and ferruleThe brake guide is made up from elastic ductile aluminium alloys, which should facilitate the function of a brake. The casing of the brake or shifter are made up of polyethylene.

5. Peripherals: consist of the basket, bell kickstand, lighting, luggage carri-er, saddlebag mudguards, reflectors etc. A lot of plastic is used in the manufacturing of the peripherals, for instance the reflectors, light casing, mudguards etc. The basket bell and kickstand need to stand weight hence aluminium or steel alloys are preferred. The saddle bags or baskets are made from nylon and plastic depending on the purpose they have to be used for.

Figure 3: Bicycle use by motive


ysis consisting of 4 stages, namely, production, selling, use and after life has been done in order to not miss out on any details and in described in detailed. The institution like the Council has a major role to play in developing this socio-technical system, and hence has been highlighted in the figure. It has a significant role to play at every stage of the life cycle of a bike. The other key stakeholders which are directly affected in this system are the people who are a part of it.

recycled or taken care of. In The Hague, as in most Dutch cities, bicycles can be spotted everywhere. The city council promotes the use of bicycles as they are “healthy, clean and easy” (Municipality of The Hague, Meerjarenprogramma Fiets 2015 – 2018. 2015). and they made a program to facilitate bicycle use by adding a lot of parking facilities, more and larger bicycle paths, a service to help facilitate the cyclists even more and to teach children in school about the benefits of cycling. In The Hague, 22% of the inhabitants commute to work by bike and 32% of the schooled inhabitants also choose the bike every day.

With this ever increasing number of bike The Netherlands, has seen a massive revolution in the bike industry, so much so that there is a higher number of bikes than the entire countries population. With changing times and envi-ronment, time has come to start thinking of how the number of bikes being manufactured can be limited by making use of the available ones to their full-est extent. The waste generated from the wrecked bikes is a big problem and efforts are on to fix them.

7.3 Product life cycle (MARIA)

The average life of a bicycle before getting disposed is considered to be 13 years (RAI Vereniging, n.d.). Afterwards, it can be either recycled or find its way into landfills (Figure 4). In the next figures the bicycle life cycle is shown and described in detail including information about the embodied energy, waste and emissions related to every single phase of the cycle.

In the Figure 5, a descriptive model of how a socio-technical system related to bicycles evolves, based on a life cycle analysis is depicted. A life cycle anal-

Figure 4: Bicycle’s Life Cycle: from manufacturing to the end of life


like roads, parking lots , regulating traffic is the key. Along with providing these facilities, it is in the interest of the society if certain strict laws are imple-mented in the use of bikes with regards safety. Because of this, the affiliated industries also have to align their goals depending on the demand for the use of bikes and the regulations set by the council. For instance, insurance compa-nies, biking accessories/gears manufacturing companies, sports industry are forced to adapt to new business plans. The Council should take efforts to educate those people who are not aware of the health benefits of using bikes. Moreover, it is also the social responsibility of bike users to promote its use by discussing the environmental impacts.

The social responsibility of the people doesn’t stop with this, they should also think of how the waste could be minimized after use of the bikes. They should have an open mind set of reusing (if available) good quality bikes and not go for new ones. The generated waste should be tried and used as much as possi-ble, if not should be used to produce other useful articles from this waste. The Council should set laws wherein bike manufacturing companies are forced to take responsibility of the waste generated by this stream. It should also pro-mote start-ups which are active in this field of recycling waste, or bikes, initiate tie-ups with bike manufacturing companies, and so on.

After developing this socio-technical system and analysing the interdepend-ency of the various aspects related to the individual stages of the life cycle, a study of how the current initiatives mentioned in chapter 5 are working and what should their future vision/prospects in order to have a circular economy, be is analysed in the following section.

When analysing the production phase of bikes, different aspects like using unique local materials, recycling of used bikes/material, refurbishment of the existing, need to be looked at. The sole aim of producing the bikes is to gener-ate profit for the manufacturer, but in the socio-technical matrix, it becomes his responsibility to start caring about the availability of resources and using them sustainably. This is where the council can have its major say and offer incentives keeping in mind the welfare of the society and environment. It also is a task of the manufacturers to find for unique ideas and designs of manu-facturing bikes and still sustain in the market. Although generating profits is a necessity for them, a maximum number of bikes to be produced should be agreed upon.

The next phase after production is the selling of the good being manufactured. This phase covers a lot of aspects ranging from marketing of the product, busi-ness generated, to the sense of ownership of the product. A bike can be best marketed depending on its features and the aesthetics it has to offer. To the flip side of this, some plans can be implemented by the companies to generate awareness about health and environment to make it attractive for the custom-ers. The dynamics of marketing need to adapt to the society they are trying to sell a product to. Efforts should be put in to change the mind set of people in terms of ownership of a product, and leasing of things should be promoted. Customers in their limits should also try and think on a boarder horizon, about society, than making a selfish decision in buying bikes. The council has to take steps to protect the interest of all the parties involved in this phase as well. On one side they can subsidies the business for these companies while on the other help imbibe the renting/leasing culture in the society.

Major social impact is seen in during the use phase of the bikes. It has a huge impact on the infrastructure planning of a region. Providing basic amenities


Figure 5: STS mind map


7.3.1 Production Phase Although the primary source of manufacturing bicycles is aluminium, rubber and steel, a trend has been observed towards the manufacturing of bikes in a greener way, take the example of the Bamboo bike project in Ghana. The easy availability of raw material locally, is an important factor in this case, but efforts should be taken in the direction of finding alternative materials which have a lesser CO2 footprint than the existing one.

In Figure 6, it can be seen the embodied energy of a normal bicycle after it is manufactured. It is clear that the maximum energy is spent in manufacturing of the frame, which consumes the maximum steel/aluminium. Steps should be taken in order to come up with innovative designs which reduce the amount of steel used per bicycle. With the help of legislation, the manufacturers should be compelled to reuse-recycle waste generated from used/scrapped bicycles, in order to be able to manufacture new bicycles, an action which can take off a substantial load from the system.

The before mentioned actions show the capacity of the producers to induce change. It is known that the market demands create new products or force the existing ones to change. In the last years, sustainability matters and people seem to be aware of how to contribute to this direction, so they try to make choices of products which are environmentally friendly. Thus, this is a good reason for the producers to orient the bicycle production to a more energy-ef-ficient and eco-friendly direction. Besides that, increasing the energy-efficien-cy of the production processes on the one hand and manufacturing bicycles with less raw materials on the other are important drivers for the producers because both could reduce costs substantially.

Figure 6: Embodied Energy after manufacturing of the main bicycle’s elements


7.3.2 Selling PhaseThis is one of the crucial phases in which a change in the attitude amongst consumers related to the ownership has to be targeted. The future of owner-ship should change to providing service rather than owning the product. There are quiet some initiatives in The Netherlands which are working towards this goal; SnappCar or Green wheels, to name a few. This business model should be implemented also for the bicycle industry in order to maintain the opti-mum number of bicycles. Online portals should be generated to meet the supply-demand chain in renting bikes which are stationary for some designat-ed time period. The Netherlands being the hub for international students who are there for a short stay in the country could be a good starting point to im-plement this. Bicycle manufacturers could play a very significant role in turning things around. The council should indeed provide them with special incentives to make this happen. Offering a service rather than a product, allows for easier repair, and in case of total loss, of recycling of the different parts within the same company to decrease the amount of waste materials. Bicycle distributors on the other hand could be the ones to inhibit this change towards a service because it is against their benefits. Their main goal is selling as many bikes as possible which in a country like The Netherlands is also not that difficult. Therefore, creating a system based on shared ownership where no one in the best case scenario owns a bike will concurrently mean that the bicycle distributors will not be needed in the market any more. On the other hand, they can contribute to increase the level of sustainability of the bicycle market by promoting and selling bicycles that are made of eco-friendly or recycled materials. Again another driver to this direction like in the case of the producers will be the customers who represent the market demand and there-fore will force the distributors to buy more sustainable types of bikes.

7.3.3 Use PhaseA simplified differentiation of the use of bikes falls under the category of daily commute, sports or for leisure. Nonetheless, there are many ancillary seg-ments which make this phase one of the complex ones. There is a constant need of good sustainable infrastructure, parking spots, traffic lights, person-nel controlling the traffic flow etcetera. Therefore, the focus of the council is already put in all the use aspects such as promoting a healthy lifestyle, ed-ucating people about bicycles, and increase the bicycle infrastructure (such as cycling paths, parking spots,…). Safety and reliability are also important aspects that should be taken into account. In The Hague the car is still seen as the number one transport mode, but the municipality wants to stimulate a shift towards the bike.

Education is one of the most important aspects leading to a more sustainable, environmentally friendly future. Such a future will only be realised with peo-ple’s awareness, radical opinion and willingness to be informed and get active-ly involved. By knowing what impact their waste has on the environment, they should feel an increasing responsibility towards their own waste management. With this way, people would lead the market to more sustainable products and services, because as already mentioned, their choices form the market demand. Thus, it is clear that the consumers have the power to induce change because without them all the other involved actors cannot make profit; selling depends strongly on what customers’ ask for.

7.3.4 After life Phase Once a bicycle is used over its complete life span, it is generally treated as to be a waste , unless it is reused or recycled. Bicycles are categorised as “grofvuil” in The Hague. Grofvuil, or in English bulky waste, is household waste which does not fit in garbage bags, mini containers or underground waste


containers or is too heavy. To throw your bike away, you can make use of the community point of collection in The Hague or arrange an appointment with the municipality of The Hague. There are three categories for bulky waste:1) Flammable2) Metals3) Trimming and branches

Around 1.3 million new bikes are sold yearly within the Netherlands, which means almost 20 million kilo of waste has potential to be recycled (Fietsers-bond, Fietsen in cijfers - 2, 2013). Because of this enormous waste generated every year, effective reuse and recycling of bicycles should be taken on the agenda, to make the economy circular. Bike manufacturing companies should be compelled to buy waste material from companies like OV Depot. Smaller bike recycling shops like Biesieklette and we recycle (located in Den Haag) which are active in bike recycling should receive a better support from the Council. The same applies for organisations which work for substituting the traditional metal and rubber parts with locally available materials, the best examples being the Ghana bamboo bikes and the Pikala project. A part of the future vision for a circular city should be to provide a platform where such ideas can be shared and implemented to make the economy sustainable and circular.With new innovations coming in the designing of bikes and materials being used for manufacturing them, the recycling and reuse is also developing as a vast field. The recycling is mainly categorised by checking the quality of parts available and if it is worthwhile to use them. One way of looking at this is to reuse the entire bicycle parts in the manufacturing of a new one, or manu-facturing a bike from by using recycled materials, as is done www.kickstarter.com, who have manufactured a 100% recycled-aluminium bikes in the USA. This can help reduce the waste generated by wrecked bikes and help in closing

the loop, and also to limit the new carbon footprint which could be generated otherwise.If not the entire bike, parts of it can also be reused to manufacture trendy items like watches, lamps, chairs and tables from them (www.bikefurniture.com). Another example is www.recyclefietsen.nl, which try and make decora-tive items (Figure 3&4) from so to say waste parts from bicycles. Such start-up businesses should be encouraged to diversify and broaden their portfolio and create wealth from waste.

In the next page it is shown an analytical interpretation of the materials, ener-gy, emissions and waste involved and how they are influenced by every phase of the bicycle’s life.


Figure 7: Bicycle life cycle


CONCLUSIONS PART B // SOCIO TECHNICAL SYSTEMThe sub question of this Future Vision chapter was: B – How does the current Socio Technical system of the bicycle stream work in The Hague?

After analysing the whole bicycle stream in The Hague we can define that the Socio Technical system isn’t a circular system but a rather linear one with one stream going back to the selling phase by recycling bikes or bike parts. The picture on the left visualise the current bicycle stream in The Hague.

As can be seen, the main life cycle of the bicycle starts with raw materials, goes to production and selling, it is then being used and after that it ends up in the waste stream. This main stream is linear with a lot of bicycle ending up in the trash but we can also identify a sub-stream going backwards up to the selling phase. This stream is made out of small initiatives which are recycling bicycles or bicycles parts. Examples of those initiatives are Biesiklette working together with the Fiets Depot, We Recycle and the Pikala Project. Although this sub-stream looks circular it isn’t because when the old bicycles or bicycle parts are too damaged, they eventually get thrown away. In the centre of the system we can identify a large party: the government and municipality. Those two stakeholders have a great influence on all parts of the stream, whether it is from subsidies, education or regulations.

The current bicycle system in The Hague isn’t fitting the future vision stated in Part A of the report. Therefore a new future system should be designed to complement our future vision for the city of The Hague.

part b // socio technical system · 2017-01-10 · the notions ‘socio-technical system’ and...

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