BIC Makes Pencil with Recycled Plastic Supplied by Axion Polymers

The recycled plastic used to make the pencil is Axpoly PS01, which originally came from post-consumer refrigerators, according to an Axion announcement.

Axion says the pencil looks and behaves like a conventional cedar wood pencil and can be sharpened in a conventional pencil sharpener without splintering.

BIC introduced an all-plastic pencil around 10 years ago. Because of increased market pressures to improve product sustainability, the company replaced virgin polymers with recycled plastics.

Axion worked closely with Ineos Styrenics, a global manufacturer of polystyrene resins, to develop an approved specification for BIC that not only met various environmental and regulatory standards but also fulfilled the manufacturer’s requirement for a cost-effective “green” product that would appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.

Using Axion’s Axpoly PS01, up to 640 pencils can be made from one typical refrigerator in the United Kingdom. Axion estimates that BIC saves 2,300 metric tons in carbon dioxide emissions per year by using the recycled polystyrene in place of virgin material to manufacture its Ecolutions pencils.

Axion Polymers, part of the Axion Group, develops and operates resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling materials. The group works with a wide range of clients within the recycling and process industries on the development of new processing and collection methods.

More information on Axion Polymers is available at www.axionpolymers.com.