Waste Into Opportunity.
Every year, more than a million bicycles sit unused in European basements while families in Burundi walk hours to work. TunaRide closes that loop — recovering bikes that would have been scrapped and turning them into mobility, jobs, and protection for the lac Tanganyika basin.
A complete circular system, end-to-end
Not a donation chain. A six-stage circular value chain — engineered for traceability, reuse, and continuous local repair.
Recover
Quality used bikes collected across Germany — diverted from scrap, landfill, or basement decay.
DivertedRefurbish
Inspected, repaired and road-tested in our Berlin workshop — extending each frame's life by years.
RestoredShip
Containerised transport to Bujumbura — fully traceable, low per-unit footprint vs new-bike imports.
TransportedTrain & deploy
TunaShare Burundi assembles the local team: youth mechanics, women operators, station crews.
Local jobsRide
Bikes enter daily service: commutes, deliveries, school runs — replacing high-emission alternatives.
In serviceRepair & re-cycle
Local workshops keep bikes alive for many more years. End-of-life parts feed back into the system.
LoopedWhy this matters for Burundi's environment
Cleaner air
Each substituted moto-taxi ride avoids ~85g CO₂ and reduces particulate matter in Bujumbura's dense traffic corridors.
Less hydrocarbon runoff
Fewer two-stroke engines on city streets means less oil and fuel residue washed into the Tanganyika basin during the rainy season.
Materials kept in use
Steel, aluminium and rubber stay in productive service for years longer instead of being scrapped or shipped as waste.
Local repair culture
Repair-first workshops cut the demand for new-bike imports and build a local maintenance economy.
The loop in numbers
Projected impact of the TunaRide pilot, modelled per 200-bike container. Every euro of support maps to bikes diverted, kilograms avoided, and jobs sustained.
Cleaner mobility, healthier lake.
Bujumbura sits directly on the shore of lac Tanganyika — one of Africa's most important freshwater ecosystems and a vital resource for four neighbouring countries. Every motorbike trip we replace with a bicycle ride means less fuel and oil residue washed into the lake during the rainy season.
- Reduced two-stroke engine emissions in the urban basin
- Lower hydrocarbon runoff into stormwater drains
- Less metal and tyre waste produced per kilometre travelled
- A repair-first culture that keeps materials in productive use
Aligned with the ECOCIRC priority
Our circular bike model directly contributes to the EU-funded objective of improving water quality in the Tanganyika basin through reduced pollution and durable, inclusive economic practices.
Mapped to the SDGs
Six Sustainable Development Goals supported by a single, measurable, on-the-ground project.
Decent Work & Growth
Paid apprenticeships, dignified local jobs, women-led operations.
Sustainable Cities
Affordable, low-emission urban transport for Bujumbura.
Responsible Consumption
Reuse-first design — extending product lifecycles by years.
Climate Action
Measured CO₂ avoidance per ride, traceable to each bike.
Gender Equality
50%+ women across operations roles, by design.
Partnerships
Berlin–Bujumbura cooperation across public, private, and civil sectors.