At BIC, we believe in simple, inventive and reliable solutions for everyone, everywhere. And we believe in acting responsibly with the planet, society and future generations in mind.

Our approach to sustainability is deeply rooted in our values and is an integral part of our day-to-day operations. True to our philosophy of honoring the past and inventing the future, we want our commitment to sustainability to be long-term and far-reaching.

Our ambition is to ensure that we limit our impact on the planet and that we are committed to our employees and society, simply because it is right.

1 - Environmental

BIC strives to improve the environmental and social impacts of its products through the implementation of our 4R philosophy and smart eco-design.

With this philosophy guiding our new approach to responsible innovation, we continue to move towards a circular economy through our efforts in our factories, transportation and packaging:

FACTORIES

As a leading industrial manufacturer of consumer products, the BIC Group is committed to ensuring that its production sites operate in an environmentally friendly manner.

TRANSPORTATION

BIC's transportation management objective is to reduce the environmental footprint of its operations by controlling emissions, optimizing shipments and routes, and selecting responsible carriers.

PACKAGING

BIC has focused on three priorities to reduce the environmental footprint of its packaging: eliminating packaging whenever possible, selecting environmentally friendly materials, and reducing and recycling packaging waste in factories.

These practices have had a positive impact on BIC's business worldwide:

80 %

of BIC employees work in 14 factories that are ISO 14001 certified or about to be certified.

TRIPLE CERTIFICATION

All three BIC shaver factories have received ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification.

92 %

of BIC® products are manufactured in BIC-owned production facilities.

45 %

Reduction in water consumption per ton of production between 2009 and 2018.

5,8 %

reduction in energy consumption per ton of production between 2010 and 2020.

SOCIAL

At BIC, we thrive on a shared corporate culture, enriched by local nuances and needs, including:

SAFETY AT WORK

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Societal

We are proud of our commitment to improving learning conditions worldwide and believe we can make a positive impact through the work of our BIC Corporate Foundation for Education, BIC Global Education Week and more. 

PROMOTE ACCESS TO EDUCATION

BIC and its team members contribute time and donations to support access to education. In 2020, BIC made donations to promote education for a total of more than €1.4 million.

GIVING BACK TO COMMUNITIES

In 2020, BIC and its subsidiaries initiated 142 philanthropic programs that involved volunteering, product donations and financial aid carried out worldwide.

THE BIC CORPORATE FOUNDATION

Born of BIC's desire to promote and structure its philanthropic approach, the Foundation supports increasing access to education, putting emphasis on the funding of social entrepreneurship and innovation in education. 43 projects were supported in 20 countries in 2020.

Writing the future, Together

Our Circular Economy Journey

BIC’s approach to products and packaging is based on our 4R philosophy, inspired by the principles of the circular economy to change the linear ”take-make-dispose” model into a new way of designing products to keep them in use and prevent them to become waste or generate pollution.

Reducing the number of raw materials used to make our products, including as many recycled or alternative materials as possible, making more refillable products, and improving the recyclability of our products and packaging will contribute to making our economy more circular.

REDUCE THE USE OF RESOURCES

CHOOSE RECYCLED/ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS

DESIGN REFILLABLE, LONG-LASTING PRODUCTS

IMPROVE RECYCLABILITY

Our Progress

97%

of cardboard packaging comes from certified and/or recycled sources.

94%

of plastic packaging material is PVC free.

79%

of all BIC® lighters are sold without consumer packaging.

86%

of BIC® products are produced in BIC-owned factories.

69%

of writing products are sold in boxes, trays or bags of 10+ products in Europe.

4%

of the plastic (by quantity) used in the stationery category is recycled plastic.

24%

In 2020, 24 alternative materials have been tested, including 11 recycled plastics, 10 hybrid materials and 3 materials derived from renewable resources.

Partnerships & Memberships

THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

In 2020, BIC became a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, global thought leader on Circular Economy. Its various programs will enable BIC’s teams to expand their knowledge, develop their skills, build a network and collaborate with key organizations on topics related to the circular economy.

Learn more >

BIC'S PARTNERSHIP WITH TERRACYCLE

Since 2011, the BIC-TerraCycle program has offered the collection and recycling of used writing instruments - BIC-branded or not - in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Learn more >

UBICUITY

A partnership with Govaplast and Plas Eco for the design, manufacture and distribution of “Ubicuity™, the ‘write’ kind of bench™” furniture. Govaplast converts plastic materials into recycled plastic boards. Plas Eco uses these boards to design, manufacture, distribute and market products in the Ubicuity™ line.

Learn more >

LOOP

BIC has signed a partnership with LOOP, the circular economy e-commerce platform created by Terracycle. LOOP offers a practical, affordable circular economy e-commerce solution based on sustainable and refillable products and containers.

Learn more >

Climate change

Climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time. At BIC, we are working to reduce our impact on climate change through better energy management and by addressing other major sources of emissions, including raw materials and transportation.

5,8 %

reduction in energy consumption per ton of production between 2009 and 2018

80%

of the electricity used in BIC factories is of renewable origin.

0.84%

Share of air freight* in 2019.
*approach transport

CDP CLIMAT : NOTE A- AU LEADERSHIP LEVEL

In 2020, BIC renewed its ranking in the "Leadership" category of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a globally recognized authority on carbon emissions. This ranking, which BIC has received since 2015 for its response to the CDP climate change questionnaire, highlights the company's commitment to reducing its impact on climate change and supporting the circular economy.

BIC, SIGNATAIRE DU FRENCH BUSINESS CLIMATE PLEDGE

BIC has renewed its commitment to the climate by signing the French Business Climate Pledge alongside 100 major French companies. BIC was one of the first signatories of this initiative after its creation in December 2017.