Sustainability Our plan to fight the global climate crisis
Trek USA has recently been recognized as TIME Magazine's 100 Influential Company.
Welcome to the beginning
It makes sense that a bicycle company would care about the environment. We make a product that provides a solution to many of the world’s most complex problems – congestion, public health, climate change. But for too long, cycling has been given an environmental pass based on this assumption. Even products that benefit people and the planet leave behind a footprint. And it’s a footprint that we need to address.
In 2020, we conducted our first emissions audit to better understand our impact and build a plan to become a more conscious and sustainable global citizen. This report shows our findings, explains the actions we’ve taken to lighten our footprint, details our goals and sets out our vision for change.
These are the first steps on journey that we are committed to seeing through. We will publish regular reports and updates on our progress and share our learnings as well as our success so that when we look back ten years from now, we will be proud of the progress that has been made.
10. Reduce reliance on air freight
Whether by air, road or sea, transporting product is our largest operational carbon expenditure. Air freight has 84 times the footprint of transport by ocean. We are improving processes in tandem with our entire supply chain to reduce our air freight mileage by 75% by 2024.
9. Consolidated delivery to retailers
To address ground delivery emissions, our mainland European retailers utilise a batched delivery strategy that drastically cut the mileage required to move product from distribution to shops. We are currently working on a global consolidated shipping strategy by 2024.
8. Increase use of renewable energy
Our global headquarters currently uses a mix of 60.6% wind, 33.3% biogas and 6.1% solar power. Our California distribution facility is 100% renewably sourced with our New Jersey facility making the jump in 2021. By 2023, all Trek-owned facilities globally will be entirely powered by renewable energy.
7. Reduce corporate travel
orporate travel represents only 7% of our operating emissions, and we learnt during the pandemic that we can travel less while managing an efficient business. In 2021 travel has been reduced by 50% of pre-pandemic levels and we will continue to reduce plane travel into the future.
6. Increase use of alternative materials
We’re committed to using alternative materials – recycled, recyclable, reclaimed or refurbished – and designing for circularity whenever and wherever possible. Today we make 15 products made entirely of reclaimed materials with plans for many more in the near future.
5. Create zero-landfill manufacturing facilities
In 2020, we began understanding and reducing waste created by our owned US manufacturing facility. New systems are now in place to create processes that we can export to our distribution centres, retailers and our German manufacturing facility, with the goal of becoming landfill-free by 2024.
4. Establish and protect new trails
Getting more people on bikes means ensuring that the world has places set aside for people to ride. Established in 2021, the Trek Foundation provides support to develop bicycle trails and infrastructure for public use and protect land from development.
3. Remove plastic waste
In 2020, our most popular bike model – Marlin – began shipping in new packaging that cut non-recyclable pieces in half. We have expanded that process widely across our bike and accessory packaging removing 196,677 kg of plastic in a single year.
2. Increase access to bike share
Since 2009, Trek-owned bike share system BCycle has reduced congestion and transportation-based carbon emissions while providing a healthier and more sustainable transportation alternative in 35 cities. We are committed to accelerating that growth into the future.
1. Increase cycling mode share
Bikes are real agents of change, and the greatest influence we can have is the simplest: get people to ride. We’re supporting causes that lobby for bikes, provide economic incentives to cities and individuals to choose sustainable transportation and build better bike infrastructure.