Sustainability

The Tour of Britain is lucky enough to race through some of Britain’s most beautiful natural scenery, including National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We have made significant steps to improve the race’s sustainability and will continue to do so in 2023 and beyond, working together with partners like Brother UK and Enval.

However, we urge riders, members of team staff, officials, volunteers and spectators to think and act responsibly, and leave the beautiful locations we race through exactly as we found them!

UCI Climate Action Charter

The Tour of Britain has committed to the UCI Climate Action Charter as it seeks to make greater reductions to cycling’s impact on the environment.

Climate change is the greatest threat to the essential elements of life for people worldwide and the sport of cycling. Not acting to reduce emissions in a rapid and far-reaching way will cost society and the sport of cycling far more in the future.

Through the UCI Climate Action Charter, we recognise the crucial steps we must take to make our sport’s rapid and deep emissions reductions possible by 2030. Joining the UCI in solidarity to build a sustainable cycling of tomorrow together was therefore an easy decision for us to make.

In addition to signing the UCI charter, we will also release an update environmental action plan in the New Year to outline extended commitments to sustainability.

Our expectations

Riders

Please dispose of your rubbish (bottles, packaging etc.) in the Brother UK green zones. These are located along the route of each stage; any litter disposed of here will be collected by the race organisation.

Away from these areas, please act responsibly and hand your rubbish to a support car or keep in your jersey pockets. If you are compelled to throw your bottle, please do so safely towards spectators, who will appreciate the souvenir from their day at the event.

Remember, you are on live television across the world so please do not discard food or gel wrappers – this may result in a fine from commissaires, plus affect the reputation of the race.

Team and organisational staff

Turn off your engine if stopped for more than a minute and think about car sharing.

Behave responsibly by reducing your speed (reduced consumption and less pollution).

Please use bins and recycling bins provided at starts and finishes to dispose of waste. If there aren’t any bins available, please keep your rubbish and dispose of it responsibly later.

Volunteers and spectators

Where possible, travel to watch the race using public transport, by walking or cycling.

If watching in remote areas, please think about car sharing with fellow racegoers.

Please use bins and recycling bins provided at starts and finishes to dispose of waste. In areas where suitable waste and recycling bins are not available, please keep your rubbish and dispose of it responsibly later.

Smokers are urged to discard their butts in an appropriate place. Please do not litter the environment with these.

Our partnerships

Brother UK

Brother UK’s Green Zone partnership represents a natural expansion of its near decade-long support for the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour. Brother UK has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Sustainability) twice. It is highly rated by the FTSE4Good index, used by investors in companies with strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies.

Each of Brother UK’s offices has been certified as a zero-waste-to-landfill site by Valpak, while its high-tech Brother Industries recycling and remanufacturing facility in North Wales has been certified carbon neutral by The Carbon Trust. Brother’s global ‘Vision 2050’ strategy will make the entire company carbon neutral within 30 years.

Enval

Plastic waste from this year’s Tour of Britain will be destined for recycling with Enval thanks to a new partnership.

This will include gel wrappers and waste collected at the Brother UK green zones on each stage, this year supported by Brother UK, as part of the company’s double Queens Award-winning focus on sustainability. Teams will also be provided with recyclable bags to collect the waste in their buses and vehicles.

Enval treat plastic better, enabling the recycling of valuable resources and paving the way for responsible packaging solutions. They have developed a unique microwave-induced pyrolysis solution for low-density packaging waste.

By applying their cutting-edge innovation to packaging recycling, we make previously unrecyclable plastic valuable, changing the perception of plastic and unlocking a profitable circular economy.

CSM

In order to improve the environmental impact of the Women’s Tour’s on-event branding, CSM Live are helping the race transition from Foamex boards to either DiBond ACM or Correx/AkyPrint, as these products are fully recyclable. CSM Live have also added any items that are no longer required or needing to be replaced within their recycling loads. They have also swapped out PVC banner material with Kavalan wherever possible. Kavalan is a PVC free alternative which has less detrimental environmental impact both at the start and end of its life cycle. We are also in discussions about the use of ball bungees as an alternative to cable ties to reduce one-time use plastics.