The iCAP Engagement Team met on Thursday, December 6th, 2025 from 4:00pm-5:00pm via Microsoft Teams. The team shared updates about the status of OneIllinois engagement, EcoReps, Employee Engagement & Wellbeing, and the ZeroWaste Training Module. 

"Bicycle Reuse Programmes Report Threefold Return on Investment" by Helen Gates

Bicycle repair and reuse programmes generate measurable economic, environmental and social returns, according to analysis by FCC Environment. 
 
The company's white paper, Bikes: A Vehicle of Opportunity, combines operational data with external research to quantify the benefits of repair and redistribution programmes. FCC reports that across its current network, it has refurbished 2,424 bicycles through prison and community workshops, diverting 35 tonnes of waste and preventing an estimated 345 tonnes of CO₂e emissions. 
 
New bicycle sales in the UK fell to around 1.45 million units in 2024, compared with 3.1–3.3 million during the 2020-2021 pandemic peak, according to industry data cited in the report. The Bicycle Association recorded a 7 per cent increase in workshop volumes and a 5 per cent rise in value in 2024, while many independent shops reported workshop revenue growth of 10–50 per cent. 
 
The shift has created demand for trained mechanics, with 13-15 per cent of UK bike businesses citing staff shortages.

Prison workshop programmes

FCC currently operates bicycle repair workshops in nine prisons across seven local authority areas, involving around 100 prisoners. The company states that these schemes have generated £119,000 in recorded social value to date. 
 
Research from the City & Guilds Foundation cited in the report suggests each prison skills qualification saves taxpayers an estimated £34,000 per year through reduced reoffending and related social costs. 
 
The Wigan Cycle Project, run in partnership with Wigan Council and the charity Rebuild with Hope, has recorded a zero per cent reoffending rate among 24 participants since 2022, compared with a cited national average of 65 per cent. Between late 2024 and mid-2025, the project refurbished more than 300 bicycles and diverted 6.8 tonnes of materials from landfill. 
 
Mark Harrison, Director of the Wigan Cycle Project, said the collaboration has "unlocked capacity to get bikes to people who really need them, while passing on new skills and prospects to prisoners preparing for release." 

ReCycling benefits

The report notes that the majority of a bicycle's lifetime carbon footprint is generated during manufacturing. Producing a new steel-frame bike emits around 96 kilograms of CO₂, while an aluminium equivalent exceeds 200 kilograms. Refurbishment preserves this embodied carbon, requiring a fraction of the energy needed to recycle raw materials. 
 
Disposal data suggests significant volumes are available for reuse. The North London Waste Authority has estimated that more than 11,000 bicycles are discarded each year in the UK, while a Transport for London scoping study identified roughly 27,500 potentially discarded bikes in London alone. 
 
External research cited in the report also highlights the economic benefits. Sustrans modelling shows that a national 40 per cent voucher scheme for low-income individuals would cost around £18 million annually but generate £60 million in benefits. Cycling UK's Big Bike Revival initiative recorded £4.30 in health and productivity returns for every £1 invested, while a Lancet study found that increasing active travel in England and Wales could save £17 billion in NHS costs over 20 years.

Policy considerations

The report suggests that right-to-repair legislation for household appliances demonstrates the potential for regulatory frameworks to support repair sectors. FCC argues that similar policy measures for bicycle repair could provide clarity and funding stability. 
 
Gemma Green, Reuse Development Manager at FCC Environment, said: "Bicycle repair and reuse initiatives can address multiple challenges simultaneously – from waste prevention and skills shortages to public health and social inclusion." 
 
The report states that bicycle reuse should be identified as a model that combines waste reduction, carbon savings and community reintegration opportunities through repair programmes

A link to the full article can be found here.

At last Fridays ILO event a total of: 

• 2,666 light bulbs were shut off

• $405.62 saved in energy costs

• 3.9 metric tons of CO₂e prevented from entering the atmosphere

• That’s equivalent to the emissions from 391 gallons of gasoline being consumed

• 92 student volunteers participated! 

Thanks again to everyone who came out to our last event of the semester! 

From Aaron Madrid:

Happy Holidays!
I hope you're both doing well. The operations team has currently commenced the process of winterizing the fleet for the year. Over the coming weeks, you should see a continual reduction in the number of vehicles in the community as we pull things in for our winter refurbishment process. 

With that said, I don't have much else to go over on our call today. I'm currently putting together a year end report that I am hoping to send along by the end of the week. I'd be happy to keep our call today if you all would like to touch base on anything specific. I'm also happy to cancel or just reschedule to Friday and we can use the time to review the data together if you like. 

Open to whatever works best for your team.

Email from Jacob Benjamin:

Slow week, as expected with the cold and messy weather. On Thursday, WCIA came by, and we got to talk about the Kids Bike Giveaway, so that was good. A post about the event also went out in the weekly newsletters. Hopefully all the press will help us get a few more donations. Fingers crossed!

Elsewhere, we’ve got some adult bike donations to work through, as well as the last of the storage container organizing to do—one last container to go through, which we’ll tackle this week. Beyond that is space optimization/organizing, as always.

The numbers:

Visitors: 20
Sales: $192.25

Memberships: 3 for $90
Tire/tubes: 6 for $46

Thanks!

Email from Jacob Benjamin:

Last week of November was slow, as best I can recall, and sales corroborate that. We’re working through the kids bikes we have and will hopefully get more donations in the coming weeks.

We’ve got a half dozen regular bikes on the sales floor but with the wintry snowy weather we’re experiencing, I don’t see those moving quickly. Have another half dozen that need final approval.

This week we begin our M/W/F hours, which we’ll keep til the end of the semester and into next semester, as the colder weather tanks our demand.

The numbers:

Visitors: 48
Sales: 492.50

Memberships: 9 for $270

Tires/tubes: 16 for $95

Thanks!

October 2025 photos of the Florida Orchard Prairie have been added to the box folder.

This year’s competition drew a record 312 participants from 13 universities, with 62 judges completing the first-round evaluations. A group of 13 finals judges is now reviewing the finalists to determine the top award recipients. We are deeply grateful to all these volunteers for their generosity of time and for helping make this competition a success.

A list of finalists appears below. Warm congratulations to the 13 finalist teams on their exceptional submissions, and sincere congratulations to all participants for your thoughtful fact sheets and compelling ideas. The competition was especially strong this year. Your work is both inspiring and forward-looking, and we hope you will continue to develop these ideas in pursuit of a more sustainable future.

The 13 finalist teams will briefly present their projects on Saturday, December 6, 2025, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (U.S. Central Time).  The ceremony will be held entirely on Zoom to accommodate our many participating institutions.

FINALISTS IN THE 2025 REIMAGINE OUR FUTURE COMPETITION
(In alphabetical order of the team leaders’ last names)

Anastasiia Albut, Kseniia Zviahintseva, Anastasiia Lichna – International Humanitarian University Ukraine

Andrea Jimena Arias-Diaz, Ricardo Robles-Fletes – National Autonomous University of Mexico  

Isabella Bird, Katie Kan, Emily Herbst – University of Birmingham

Briana Harris, Kevin Bustamante – Waubonsee Community College

Matthew Kwong, Isaiah Kim, Amina Mandzukic, Aarushi Tiwari, Kaushal Siruvuri, Lionel Yan, Andrew Low, Adi Jha – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Henna Naveed – University of Birmingham

Tricia Newman – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Angel Ofori-amanfo, Victory Ndibe-Onwuka, Elohor Oghorodi, Lukas Akyildiz – University of Birmingham

Akhil Raizada, Logan Justiniani, Anna Aler, Arush Chatterjee, Arnav Pande, Gianna Niecestro, Sarina Shah, Jack Visnjevac – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Brooke Rember, Olivia Fleury, Niamh Mclaren-Moreton, Phoebe Hill, Emily Thomas – University of Birmingham

Zaara Tariq Saeed, George Hodgson-Wilde, Xiaojie Deng, Julia Thornton – University of Birmingham

Ayush Thaker, Vidipta Roy, SaarthakJain, Marcus Lam – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign  

Crystal Zhao, Marlo Decapo, Valeria Echavarri, Yashwanth Nagarajan, Torin Schroeder – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Please see attached correspondence from Chancellor Isbell.