But... why not just lend regular, cheap bikes and reuse them? Reuse is a lot less expensive than recycling.
I visited a city last week (Matsumoto) that has this service, they lend cheap city bikes for free by the day. Not even an ID card needed, you just write your name and phone number and go. It's a fantastic service when visiting.
It's been working fine for years, though. I think part of it is being in Japan, and part of it is that the bikes just don't have much resale value. No point stealing creaky, cheap city bikes.
I visited a city last week (Matsumoto) that has this service, they lend cheap city bikes for free by the day. Not even an ID card needed, you just write your name and phone number and go. It's a fantastic service when visiting.