Every year, thousands of stolen and abandoned bicycles end up unclaimed, creating costs for insurers and municipalities and preventing bicycles from being returned to use.
BikeKey already provides a digital bike registry through which citizens can register bicycles using a QR tag and MitID. If a registered bicycle is found, the platform can reconnect it with its owner, supporting theft prevention and recovery.
Building on this existing platform, the Circular Bikes project focused on what happens after a bicycle is recovered. The project developed and tested functionality that enables insurance companies to manage recovered bicycles more efficiently, including digital ownership verification and transfer, administration of recovered bikes, and their potential recirculation through reuse, resale or donation.
The solution was demonstrated in Denmark with First as the end-client during 2025. The pilot tested the core functionality in an operational environment, validating usability, data flows and platform stability. More than 35 users and approximately 50 bicycles were registered and validated during the pilot period. Feedback from the testing was used to further automate and refine the workflow.
The pilot also demonstrated the potential for more efficient insurance case handling. Based on feedback and pilot data, BikeKey estimated a 20–25% reduction in average handling time when insurers use verified digital ownership information. Following the pilot, BikeKey and the insurer agreed to continue their collaboration with new users.
Alongside the insurer use case, the project explored how the same infrastructure could support municipalities in managing abandoned and recovered bicycles. This could enable cities to reconnect bicycles with their owners or facilitate their legal recirculation, reducing waste, storage requirements and administrative burden. While a municipal demonstration did not take place within the project period, discussions with municipalities were initiated as a pathway for further scaling.
The project took place in Denmark and Norway in 2025, building on BikeKey’s collaborations with First Forsikring, Vejle Brand Forsikring, Runa Forsikring, Bauta Forsikring, and Lærestandens Brandforsikring. BikeKey also expanded its activities in Norway in collaboration with the Norwegian Automobile Federation.
The project demonstrated how an existing bicycle registration and recovery platform can be extended beyond theft prevention towards a more circular model for recovered bicycles, creating value for insurers while opening opportunities for municipalities and other actors to reduce bicycle waste and return more bikes to use.
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Large numbers of stolen and abandoned bicycles remain unclaimed each year, creating costs for insurers and municipalities while usable bicycles risk becoming waste. Digital ownership verification can help reconnect recovered bicycles with their owners and provide a basis for their efficient and legally compliant recirculation.
The project addressed the operational gap between recovering a bicycle and deciding what happens to it afterwards. Circular Bikes developed and tested functionality to simplify ownership verification and transfer, reduce administrative work for insurers, and enable recovered bicycles to be returned, reused, resold or donated rather than becoming waste.
Circular Bikes was validated in an operational environment with First, progressing from TRL 7 to TRL 9. During the pilot, more than 35 users and approximately 50 bicycles were registered and validated, while pilot data indicated an estimated 20–25% improvement in insurance case-handling efficiency. The collaboration with the insurer is continuing beyond the pilot, while the municipal use case provides an additional pathway for future scaling.
