Our green credentials
As pedlars of the most efficient form of human transport ever invented, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op can claim some green credentials. But we appreciate that everyone can take extra measures towards reducing our carbon tyre-print. We therefore have a sentence in our mission statement that goes: We aim to minimise the environmental impact of our business through conservation, recycling and the use of environmentally sound processes. To this end, every Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op store has introduced the following initiatives:
Bags
We are reducing the impact of packaging by only offering you a bag when it's truly. We believe in the power of panniers. And when you do need a bag, it'll be made of recycled material.
Recycling
To make it easy for you to dispose of inner tube boxes, exhausted batteries and so on, every branch of Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op has an in-store recycling centre:
- Electrical equipment - especially batteries and bulbs that can leach out toxins if sent to landfill. (See WEEE info below). Currently not operating in Canomills.
- Plastics including poly bags - bring back those empty lube bottles.
- Paper and cardboard.
(WEEE) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
You can now recycle your old electricals with us
As an environmentally aware business, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op encourages the responsible disposal & recycling of all materials where possible including out-of-commission electrical equipment such as lights and batteries. In line with the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive we provide facilities for you to return electrical or electronic items sold by us and of the same product types sold by us.
Why recycle?
Unwanted electrical equipment is the UK's fastest growing type of waste.
Many electrical items can be repaired or recycled, saving natural resources and the environment. If you do not recycle, electrical equipment will end up in landfill where hazardous substances will leak out and cause soil and water contamination – harming wildlife and also human health.
We can help
We are pleased to offer our customers the chance to recycle their old electrical items when purchasing a new item from us.
Please speak to a member of staff for details on how to dispose of your WEEE item in store. If you would like to send us your old item by post, please use the address below and we will make sure it is disposed of in the correct manner.
Customers must return their WEEE item(s) to Edinburgh Bicycle within 28 days of purchasing their new item. You can either drop the product off in store, or send the item to:
UNIT 3 QUEEN ANNE PARK
QUEEN ANNE DRIVE
LOCHEND INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
NEWBRIDGE
EDINBURGH
EH28 8LH
You can also locate your closest participating collection site by entering your postcode at www.recycle-more.co.uk
To remind you that old electrical equipment can be recycled, it is now marked with a crossed‐out wheeled bin symbol. Please do not throw any electrical equipment (including those marked with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol) in your bin.
What is WEEE?
The Waste Electrical or Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires countries to maximise separate collection and environmentally friendly processing of these items. In the UK, distributors (including retailers) must provide a system which allows all customers buying new electrical equipment the opportunity to recycle their old items free of charge. Those establishing their own take‐back scheme must as a minimum offer all customers buying new electrical equipment free take back of their old electricals on a like‐for‐like basis.
Bring Us Your Old Bike
Renovating something to keep it working is an even greener solution than recycling waste material. Bring your unwanted old bicycles to any Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op store and we will donate it to The Bike Station - an Edinburgh-based charity dedicated to renovating old bicycles. Their slogan is Recycle to Cycle. They do fantastic outreach work, making bicycles available to people and communities who previously couldn’t afford a new bike or maybe hadn’t even dreamed of cycling till they had heard of The Bike Station. Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op donate up to 20 unwanted old bikes to The Bike Station every week.
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op's Environmental Statement
(the small print AKA the devil is in the detail) Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative are committed to reducing our environmental impact by integrating resource-conservation best practice in every area of our business by:
- Promoting the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste materials.
- Ensuring energy and water are used efficiently.
- Complying with the requirements of environmental legislation, statutory regulations and official codes of practice.
- Positively discriminating in favour of more environmentally sound goods and supplies when making buying decisions.
- Promoting the use of clean transport and environmentally responsible operation of vehicles.
- Promoting cycling to work by providing staff showers and secure bike parking facilities and by running our own staff Bike to Work Scheme.
- Raising awareness and encouraging participation in environmental matters through staff training sessions.
- Endeavouring to continuously improve our environmental performance by regularly reviewing our activities and policies and setting new targets to reduce the environmental impact caused by our activities.
Furthermore:
- Edinburgh Bicycle invites customers to recycle unwanted product packing by providing convenient, in-store recycling centres.
- Edinburgh Bicycle only uses bio-degradable materials in the construction of it’s plastic bags.
- Edinburgh Bicycle reuses packaging and packing materials wherever and whenever possible.
- As an environmentally aware business, Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op encourages the responsible disposal of out-of-commission electrical equipment such as lights and batteries. In line with the latest UK and European environmental legislation - the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive - Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op has joined the Distributor Take-Back Scheme which contributes to the provision of improved recycling facilities.
- Edinburgh Bicycle currently recycles over 95% of paper, cardboard and plastic generated.
Boxing Clever
Our cardboard bailing machine compacts 40 bike boxes so they take up no more space (a single pallet) than 4 uncrushed bike boxes. The result: a 10-fold reduction in uplifts to the recycling plant.