Standards for environmentally friendly production

Through our efforts in the area of climate protection and environmental conservation, we succeeded in generating and saving 2,095.2 MWh of energy last year. This saving is comparable to the total annual electricity and heat consumption of 123 German households. This reduction was achieved through the use of recycled waste materials and the replacement of electricity and heat with savings in raw materials.

In the bicycle and e-bike industry in particular, awareness of sustainability has risen sharply in recent years. In addition to the bicycle as an environmentally friendly means of transport in itself, we are placing greater emphasis on ensuring that it is also produced under sustainable conditions. However, offering you, the customer, a sustainable product does not end with the production of the bicycle, but also includes the disposal and recycling of the materials and waste generated during the manufacturing process. To this end, REMONDIS AG & Co. KG evaluates corporate activities in terms of sustainability and awards a sustainability certificate as information on the use of limited resources, the promotion of recycling and compliance with environmental standards.

At VELO DE VILLE, we want to make valuable contributions to our environment and use the resources available to us responsibly. Our holistic materials management has been reviewed by REMONDIS and assessed on the basis of the REMONDIS service chain. This assessment covers the savings in primary raw materials, energy and greenhouse gas emissions achieved through disposal and recycling.

For us, the REMONDIS sustainability certificate serves as a tool for measuring our own sustainable actions. We want to give you, our customer, the assurance that your bike is produced under environmentally friendly conditions. In this way, we aim to highlight our progress towards more sustainable production of our bikes and compliance with the standards set out in the sustainability certificate. The REMONDIS sustainability certificate enables us to identify the areas in which we are already performing well and those in which there is still room for improvement, so that we can continuously improve and offer a more sustainable product. With the sustainability certificate, we are helping to establish common standards for sustainable business practices and the assessment of sustainability.

The assessment of material-recycled waste streams is based on the amount of primary raw materials saved through recycling. In 2022, we were able to save 628.4 tonnes of primary raw materials at VELO DE VILLE. Of this, 46.1 tonnes are fossil fuels, 567.7 tonnes are wood, 14.3 tonnes are metals and 0.3 tonnes are minerals.

Waste streams that are recycled for energy, on the other hand, are assessed based on the amount of energy generated and the raw material savings achieved by substituting electricity and heat. Last year, energy generation amounted to 2,095.2 MWh. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, this saving is comparable to the annual electricity and heat consumption of 123 households.

In order to evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions saved, all load and relief factors of all process steps are taken into account. In addition to primary raw material and energy savings, greenhouse gases were reduced by 163 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This corresponds to the emissions of 72.8 tonnes of burnt hard coal.

Thanks to the savings achieved, we will be awarded the REMONDIS certificate in 2022.

How does the sustainability certificate assessment work?

The calculation methodology of the REMONDIS sustainability certificate and the resulting assessment comprises a total of six categories.

1. Collection: The waste is carefully categorised on site. Depending on the material flow, the amount of waste collected and the number of container empties required are recorded.
2. Transport: REMONDIS checks the container types and transport distances. Efficient logistics and the shortest possible transport routes minimise fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
3. Processing: REMONDIS separates the material flow into single-type material flows and shreds them. The higher the material quality before the first processing step, the less energy and emissions are required to separate the material flow and process it into high-quality recycled raw materials.
4. Delivery: The processed materials are transported to the production sites and used there as recycled materials. The type of vehicle, the distance to the sites and efficient route planning are crucial for reducing energy consumption and emissions.
5. Utilisation: Recycled materials are used to generate energy, which leads to savings in emissions and significantly reduces the burden on the material cycle.
6. Raw material substitution: The use of high-quality recycled raw materials can replace and save primary raw materials.