Bikes are a climate solution, but the manufacturing and transportation of bicycles and bike-related products are still a contributing factor to climate change. This is why PeopleForBikes helped the bicycle industry come together to form our Sustainability Working Group (SWG) in 2020. Together, the group networks, learns, and collaborates on projects to reduce overall environmental impacts from the industry as a whole while helping individual companies achieve their own sustainability wins. 

The SWG is composed of 80 bike industry professionals from more than 40 PeopleForBikes member companies. We partner with the Outdoor Industry Association’s Climate Action Corps as well as global associations and nonprofits in Europe and Asia. 

In an effort to showcase some of the innovative sustainability work being done across the industry, we’re highlighting a selection of our member’s accomplishments. If you are interested in joining the Sustainability Working Group or highlighting your company’s efforts in a future blog, please reach out to JJ Trout at jj@peopleforbikes.org. 

Sustainability Working Group Member Highlights

As an organization, the Bosch Group has been carbon neutral (scopes 1 and 2) since 2020, which includes purchased carbon credits. In the years ahead, Bosch eBike Systems plans to target three key areas to contribute to the organization’s even more aspirational goals: minimizing product carbon footprints, responsibility and transparency in supply chains, and the development of a comprehensive recycling economy.

Compose[d] signed a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPAA) to repower a wind farm and help bring renewable, utility-scale electricity online faster. The company is overbuying electricity to support a project in Big Spring, Texas, a state where 64% of electricity is still produced by fossil fuels. 

Giant Group’s ESG Commitment details their efforts in cycling towards a better future, including a goal to reduce Co2 emissions from manufacturing by 40 kg per bicycle.

NEMO Equipment won two awards for sustainable products. Their Resolve backpack won an ISPO award as the “perfect blend of fit, performance, and circularity, setting new standards in outdoor gear." The Forte Endless Promise Sleeping bag won Popular Science’s 2023 Best of What's New Award for being circular, meaning old products are used to make new ones. The sleeping bags can be repaired, completely recycled, or resold when sent back to NEMO.

Quality Bicycle Products highlighted organizational sustainability wins in its 2022 Impact Report (with a 2023 report coming soon). The supplier also released science-based targets for emissions reductions in line with requirements from the latest climate science to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

REI consistently updates their Product Impact Standards, helping the numerous brands that sell through the retailer to elevate their sustainability practices. In 2023, REI hosted a series of workshops aimed at helping brand partners measure their carbon emissions, set science-based emissions targets, and create action plans to reduce emissions. Check out their guidebook to easily understand how to create positive change in your business. 

Specialized is continuing its journey to operationalize sustainability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the value chain, and educate employees to support an internal cultural shift to environmental responsibility. Some wins from this year include the development of tools for product design teams to better assess and mitigate the environmental impact of what they create, an initiative for every employee to have a sustainability-related annual goal, and the creation of a worldwide employee engagement and educational program to support a group of 16 functionally and regionally diverse “sustainability champions” to drive change in their teams and markets.   

SRAM’s 2023 Responsibilities Report documents the company’s work in bicycling advocacy, building an inclusive company and culture, and doing their part to create a better planet. 

Trek launched a certified used bike program — Red Barn Refresh — and published 2021 and 2023 Sustainability Reports, charting GHG emission measurements and goals. Other wins include adding circular principles by incorporating recycled materials into tires, helmets, plastic parts, and clothing, alongside launching an ambitious supplier outreach program to account for, plan, and reduce impacts across the supply chain.