In 2020, Trek Bicycle partnered with WAP Sustainability Consulting to conduct their first emissions audit to better understand their environmental impact and build a plan to become a more conscious and sustainable global citizen. The data takes into account a single year of operation pre-2020 as a baseline metric to identify the company’s areas of greatest impact to better determine where to dedicate attention and resources to reduce the carbon required to operate.

 
 

As a result, Trek defined 10 areas of focus to reduce their footprint including:

 

10. Reduce use of air freight – Air freight has 84 times the footprint of transport by ocean. As a result, Trek is improving supply-chain processes to reduce air freight mileage by 75% by 2024.

 

9. Consolidate shipments to retailers – To address ground delivery emissions, Trek is working on a global consolidated shipping strategy by 2024. Mainland European retailers currently utilise a batched shipping strategy that drastically cut mileage required to move product.

 

8. Increase reliance on renewable energy – By 2023, all Trek-owned facilities globally will be entirely powered by renewable energy. Currently, global headquarters uses of mix of 60.6% wind, 33.3% biogas and 6.1% solar power. The California and New Jersey distribution facilities are 100% renewably sourced.

7. Reduce corporate travel – In 2021, travel has been reduced by 50% of pre-pandemic levels and Trek will continue to reduce plane travel moving forwards.

 

6. Increase reliance on alternative materials – Trek is committed to using recycled, recyclable or refurbished materials to build products. Today, 15 products are made entirely of reclaimed materials. For example, in partnership with Bureo, a group working to remove discarded fishing nets from the oceans, Trek is grinding down this ocean pollutant into reusable material that is used to create the water bottle Bat Cages present on Trek bikes. The material is present in several handle grips as well.

 

5. Create zero-landfill manufacturing facilities – Trek’s goal is to become landfill-free by 2024 with efforts already in place in the US manufacturing facility.

 

4. Establish and protect new trails – Established in 2021, The Trek Foundation provides support to develop bicycle trails and infrastructure for public use and to protect land from development.

 

3. Remove plastic waste from packaging – Trek is using new packaging for bikes and accessories in an effort to cut down on non-recyclable pieces, working towards a goal of plastic-free packaging by 2024. In one year alone, Trek was able to remove 196,678 kg of plastic from packaging.

 

2. Increase access to bike share – Since 2009, Trek-owned bike share system,

BCycle, has reduced congestion and transportation-based carbon emissions in 35 cities.

Trek is committed to accelerating that growth and expansion moving forward.

 

1. Get more people on bikes – In the US alone, a 1% shift from vehicle transport to

cycling would result in a carbon reduction that is around 17 times bigger than Trek’s total

global carbon footprint. Trek is supporting causes that lobby for bikes, provide economic

incentive to cities and individuals to choose sustainable transport and build better bike

infrastructure.

 

Trek is continuing to encourage people to #GoByBike. The campaign, launched in

2020, has encouraged hundreds of thousands of riders to opt for travel by bike instead of

by car. To help provide riders with a new milestone, Trek calculated the Rule of 430 –

giving cyclists the opportunity to reach carbon neutrality. When you replace a ride in

your car or an emissions-emitting vehicle for a bike trip, you are making a small

contribution towards the carbon neutrality of your bike. If you ride a collective 430 miles

– or a little over a mile a day for a year – that you would have otherwise used a vehicle

for, you have saved the carbon equivalent of what it took for Trek to make your bike.

Anything above 430 miles, and your bike is now carbon negative.

 

To learn more about Trek’s sustainability efforts and to download the full report, visit https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/sustainability/.