IperionX and Canyon partner on sustainable titanium bike components
March 30, 2023
IperionX Limited, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, has partnered with Canyon Bicycles GmbH in an effort to develop a more sustainable titanium supply chain for the bicycle industry through the production of bicycle components using IperionX’s 100% recycled and low-carbon titanium.
“Our partnership with Canyon highlights the importance of fully circular, sustainable materials to customers with leading environmental goals,” stated Anastasios Arima, CEO and Managing Director, IperionX. “We are very pleased to be applying the patented technologies to create 100% recycled titanium parts for a leading company in a very large addressable market, and we look forward to progressing the partnership towards the extended use of titanium in bicycle production.”
Canyon is an award-winning bicycle manufacturer with a strong reputation for innovation, implementing leading technologies, clean and clear design as well as the highest standards in quality and service. The potential to develop bicycle components utilising IperionX’s titanium is said to be aligned with its ambitions to drive the use of innovative materials in the production process, and to match that with its environmental goals.
Canyon has previously shown interest in this area by investigating cradle-to-cradle production principles and is currently researching how to integrate similar approaches across advanced materials and future manufacturing platforms.
IperionX is working closely with Canyon’s product development and ESG teams to additively manufacture bicycle components using IperionX’s low-carbon, recycled titanium metal powders. The parties have agreed upon an initial project to prototype Canyon bicycle parts, including for bicycle frames. The term of this initial agreement is until June 30, 2025. Upon successful completion of the initial prototyping, Canyon and IperionX intend to negotiate an agreement for larger scale production.
Titanium as a frame material has a premium and desirable position for bicycle consumers, being both very strong and lightweight (around half the weight of steel), as well as being extremely corrosion resistant. However, until now, its utilisation in bike components has been limited by its high cost compared to materials such as carbon and the high carbon footprint of the current titanium supply chain, which is based on the energy-intensive Kroll process.
Alison Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Canyon concluded, “We’re delighted to have formed this working relationship with IperionX. Connecting IperionX to our product development and ESG teams is allowing us to identify bicycle components that can be produced using their low-cost, low-carbon, fully recycled titanium powders. This is a real breakthrough technology for us and we look forward to deploying this innovative technology in the production of more sustainable titanium for use in Canyon bicycles.”
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