Built for generations

Responsibility at Schindelhauer

This report, published for the first time in this form, provides information on the carbon footprint of c2g-engineering GmbH and its Schindelhauer brand. The calculations contained here are not yet complete and will be supple- mented in the following years.

The aim is to identify the largest possible source of emis- sions and to communicate this transparently. Other aspects of sustainability in social, ecological and economic terms will also be included in the report in the future.

Our motivation

As a value-oriented brand and one of the pioneers of urban bicycle culture, Schindelhauer is committed to driving innovation and improvements in running a responsible business. The bicycle can play a leading role in reducing CO2 emissions in local transport; however, the way we manufacture and sell products in the bicycle industry continues to contribute to the problem of climate change.

In 2015, 196 countries signed the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement. In this agreement, they pledged to keep global warming below the critical level of 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve this goal, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 55% by 2030 and by 100% by 2050 at the latest. To achieve this goal in the bicycle industry, it is vital to include the entire supply chain. Most of the environmental impact of our products occurs during the extraction, procurement and manufacturing of materials and parts, and the linear economy in which we operate still places little emphasis on the reuse of materials. Our deepest desire is to change this. We have therefore set out to determine our own emissions, calculate the carbon emissions footprint of our bicycles, and network with like-minded companies. The not-for-profit movement Shift Cycling Culture is a major supporter in this, by facilitating exchange among all interested organisations and entities in the cycling industry, and offering a platform for us to discuss the role our companies play in combating climate change.

On this journey, we realized that we not only need to change our business model, but also accelerate our efforts together as an industry in order to successfully reach our global climate goals.

We are aware that these are only the first steps on a long road and that many of us in the industry are already further ahead. However, we believe that these first steps are important and urgently needed for all of us, regardless of company size. If every company in the bicycle industry takes these steps, the cumulative impact will be enormous.

For our part, this report describes our first small, but essential, steps toward becoming a climate-neutral company.

Corporate Carbon Footprint

We are now working to create transparency through initial climate accounting; for us, transparency is an integral part of being a responsible bicycle brand. With the help of this carbon accounting, we can mea- sure our own corporate carbon footprint, and make fact-based decisions about which measures will most effectively enable us to reduce our environmental impact.

Carbon accounting, or Corporate Carbon Footprinting (CCF), involves measuring emissions of six green- house gases in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol. These include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2₂O), halogenated hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulfur hexa- fluoride (SF6). For comparability, each greenhouse gas is converted to an equivalent - the Global Warm- ing Potential, also known as CO2e. This potential de- scribes the impact of a given amount of any other greenhouse gas on the climate compared to CO₂. As a rule, the effects are measured over a period of 100 years. The potential can be recognized by the small letter e after the formula CO₂.

With the understanding that the largest share of our emissions is generated within our supply chain, we would nevertheless like to initially limit the scope of our carbon footprint to our internal corporate activi- ties.

The methodology for structuring, recording and calculating the data is based on the GHG Protocol for the reporting period 2022. For comparison purposes, we would like to refer to the year 2021, for which the best comparable data is available. In 2021 we also conducted an initial pilot project for a life cycle assessment of our bicycles and e-bikes. This gave us insight into the structure of a bicycle’s life cycle, and helped us identify certain hotspots.

To clearly delineate our corporate activities, we chose the consolidation approach based on what lies within our financial control. Our own corporate activities can be divided into so-called scope 1 and scope 2 emissions according to the GHG approach.

Scope 1 refers to direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by us. This includes, for example, our company van.

Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions from the gen- eration of electricity, heat or steam purchased by us. Accordingly, these are related to the generation of energy that we consume but do not generate ourselves.

Indirect emissions are measured under scope 3 and occur outside our operating boundaries. Examples of scope 3 emissions are our emissions from the pro- duction and transportation of purchased goods and services; the commuting of our employees; waste disposal; and the usage phase of our products. Since we personally make direct decisions about which products we purchase and how our products are used, we see it as our duty to also make these emissions as measurable as possible in the coming years. Within this report, we will initially limit ourselves to selected scope 3 emissions.