At Specialized, we come to work each day with the purpose of pedalling the planet forward. For nearly half a century, one goal has remained constant—deliver the safest, highest-performing, longest-lasting bikes available.
In pursuit of this goal, energy is used, greenhouse gasses are emitted, and waste is created. While there’s always an impact to making and moving bikes, equipment, and apparel, we can do better, and we assume that riders expect us to do better too.
We are committed to building quality bikes and equipment, minimising our environmental footprint in their creation, and establishing an effective path for reuse and recycling of everything we create.
Respect for People: We promote human rights in our offices and distribution centers, in our supply chain, and in our rider communities.
Respect for the Planet: We seek to promote the adoption of bikes and their positive impact on local transportation while continuously striving to reduce the impact of our operations.
Strive for Performance: We seek to relentlessly innovate, in order to redefine riders' expectations for safety, performance, and durability.
At Specialized, we are members of and are inspired by the community of riders we serve. We support and engage with riding communities to support more riders in more places in more ways. We are proud to work with the following partners:
Soil Searching: A movement to recognise, celebrate, and support the trail builders who help shape our sport and our stoke.
Edmund Rice Camps: A non for profit which harnesses the power of fun to change people's lives directly impacting their resilience, self-worth and aspirations for the future through cycling and a variety of outdoor programs.
As a business and as individuals, we recognise we are in a global climate emergency and we need to take action now yesterday. We don't have it completely dialled, nor are we trying to make it look better than it is. But we have started. We are committed to social and environmental responsibility. These are some of the things we have started here in Australia, with much more to come:
These are some of the things we have started here in Australia, with much more to come:
Specialized Australia is committed to reducing our carbon emissions and this is part of our overarching long-term business plans. We will be undertaking an audit of our local business in 2022 and will commence working with our global teammates to develop targets and initiatives to continue to reduce our impact.
Battery recycling: we have an established battery recycling program in partnership with Envirostream. Envirostream is the first onshore company to offer mixed battery recycling in Australia. The ISO 14001 accredited processing system recovers around 95% of the materials in a spent battery.
Mixed alloy recycling: we have a solution for all mixed alloy recycling which includes alloy frames, motors, as well as excess and obsolete service parts.
Apparel recycling: we have started a pilot in our office by partnering with Upparel - a company who extend or redefine the life of unwanted textiles.
Tyre recycling: we are developing a tyre recycling pilot program that will be tested with select retailers before rolling out across a network of participating retailers in 2023.
Member of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO): we are working with our global business to review and drive change in our packaging.
As individuals we are committed to replacing car trips with bike trips where possible.
Build quality bikes and equipment that last.
Minimise our environmental footprint in their creation.
Establish effective paths for re-use and recycling of everything we create.
It's not enough to make the best bikes and gear in the world—how we make them, how long they last, and what happens at the end of their lives all matter to us.
Areas of Work:
Responsible Manufacturing. Actively work to improve the social and environmental performance of our suppliers and our industry.
Responsible Design. We make bikes for a lifetime of riding.
Waste Reduction and Recycling. We want more butts on bikes and less stuff in the trash.
Climate Action. Measuring and reducing our climate impacts.
Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a co-regulatory not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia. APCO's vision is a packaging value chain that collaborates to keep packaging materials out of landfill and retains the maximum value of the materials, energy and labour within the local economy.
Each year, APCO Brand Owner Members are required to submit an APCO Annual Report and an APCO Action Plan.
To demonstrate its commitment to packaging sustainability, Specialized Australia signed the Australian Packaging Covenant in 2019. As a member of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), Specialized Australia is committed to further reducing its environmental footprint by collaborating and advocating for change with our Global business based in California, USA.
As a global brand, we face challenges with different requirements across many countries, however we are continuously reviewing and exploring ways to improve our packaging in line with APCO’s Sustainable Packaging Guidelines.
Specialized Australia's 2023 APCO Annual Report & Action Plan is here: