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Islabikes has released its Sustainability Report 2022, aiming to better understand its environmental impact by analysing its carbon profile, supply chains and future commitments.
The company is pledging to cut all emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to its 2019/20 baseline.
According to the Sustainability Report, if each child cycled to school, this could save up to 247kg of CO2e from being emitted annually. The report also revealed that the business has less than eight years to make significant and demonstrable reductions to its carbon emissions – with the ultimate goal to have a net-positive impact on the planet.
While the makeup of value chains is complicated, and so is characterising its emissions, when analysing its carbon profile, the bike specialists found that less than 3% of its emissions were in Scope 1 and 2 – emissions directly or indirectly released – with its Scope 3 activities, including manufacturing and transport, accounting for the majority of their carbon emissions.
Additionally, when analysing the supply chains of some of its bicycles – the Rothan 14, Cnoc 16 and Beinn 26 – the primary outcomes were found to be:
– Rothan 14 (balance bike) – The materials and transport involved in making a Rothan 14 are responsible for more than 35kg CO2e alone
– Cnoc 16 (first pedal bike) – The materials and transport involved in making a Cnoc 16 are responsible for more than 51.8kg of CO2e alone
– Beinn 26 (multi-purpose bike) – The materials and transport involved in making a Beinn 26 are responsible for more than 79.8kg CO2e alone
Tim Goodall, managing director at Islabikes, said: “Our aim is to provide genuinely effective cycling solutions, enabling more people to take and enjoy journeys by bike, which is perhaps the best solution we can offer in order to halt the advance of the climate crisis.
“While our negative environmental impact may be low in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t absolve us of our responsibility to take action and commit to making a positive impact. Ultimately, we aspire to have a net-positive impact on the planet and our Sustainability Report is another step in making this direction.”
Since The Imagine Project in 2015, Islabikes said it has continuously worked towards finding ways to make and supply bicycles to families in a way that is viable for the future, lobbying for change amongst its supply chain, sunsetting UK suppliers not achieving its net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and also any Asian suppliers not disclosing their emissions – Islabikes will provide resources to help support the transition if suppliers don’t know how.
Initiatives include open collaboration, sunsetting, reviewing material consumption, responsible transport, localisation and using the eco-cost methodology to inform business decisions. When it comes to cleaning up its UK operations, the business has set out the following objectives:
– Waste disposal – Remove all single-use plastics from the packaging and phase out suppliers still using them (already in progress)
– Business travel – No airfreighting of goods, to use public transport where possible, stop flights within the UK or EU and work with factories remotely to limit trips to Asia
– Electricity – Explore options for 100% renewable energy – currently it’s 32%
