BIC - 2019 Universal Registration Document

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility concerning our products [NFPS]

Economy of materials BIC has always sought to optimize its use of raw materials as much as possible. As an expert in the processing of plastics, BIC exercises its responsibility above all by minimizing its use of these materials. In the Stationery category, the BIC ® Cristal ® ball pen, one of the Group’s flagship products, exemplifies this approach. Even though its design already optimized the use of materials in 1950, it continues to benefit from ongoing research to minimize the quantity of material used: it has a minimum writing length of more than 2-km; ● it uses only 2.9 grams of material per kilometer of writing, ● compared with 6.6 grams for a competing product with comparable characteristics. In the Shavers category, BIC achieves very good performance on its markets due to its highly competitive price/quality ratio. For each product range, this price/quality ratio is made possible by the development of products with an optimal quantity of materials and keeping them as simple as possible. For example, the BIC ® Simply Soleil ® shaver is designed to weigh as little as possible. Although it is hollow, its handle nonetheless ensures a high level of performance, quality and comfort in shaving. Regarding new materials, the BIC Research and Development teams, in collaboration with the Purchasing departments, focus on two approaches: the use of existing innovative materials. An inventory of ● innovative materials available for industrial use is kept up to date. From this list, engineers select materials that correspond to industrial and economic requirements with the objective of conducting feasibility tests. In the absence of a simple, economical solution to develop a material based on biological material from plants, recycled materials are chosen; collaborative research with suppliers to identify new materials ● ( e.g. plant-based or recycled, etc.), new concepts or hybrid materials. Many materials are considered and then analyzed. These have included potato starch, sugarcane, plant fibers, woodchips, etc. Once a formulation is ready, it is tested to ensure that it meets industrial specifications for quality and safety, sometimes going all the way to the finished product qualification stage. Since 2014, BIC has been conducting a research program to maximize the use of recycled and alternative materials in BIC ®  products. To achieve this, the research teams have identified all BIC ® products whose design could be modified or adapted for production using alternative/recycled materials without sacrificing quality. The challenge is, first of all, to ensure a perennial source of such materials that meet the specifications and are available on the market, and secondly, to convert any products that lend themselves Integrating alternative or recycled materials into Stationery products Integrating alternative materials Research & Development

to this adaptation. Exemplifying this approach, the BIC ®  Ecolutions ® range is a complete stationery line that consists of products manufactured using recycled materials (at least 50%) in compliance with the standard ISO 14021. The BIC ®  Matic Ecolutions ® mechanical pencil, for example, contains 65% recycled materials. All stationery lines now include at least one product made with alternative (in particular recycled) materials. BIC at the heart of an innovation community Over the years, BIC has cultivated more than 100 strategic partnerships in research and development with startups, companies at the forefront of innovation, universities, research institutes and external laboratories, playing a leading role in a community with which it pursues long-term prospective and development programs. For example, the Group works closely with a number of French startups, like Pilibio and Inofib, specializing respectively in the production of inks from microorganisms and in natural cellulose fibers. Since 2012, the Group has also been a member of Matériaux Chimie , Chimie Verte (formerly called MAUD), a competitiveness cluster based in Villeneuve-d’Ascq that backs innovative projects in materials, chemistry, green chemistry and sustainable development. The projects sponsored by the cluster concern multifunctional, eco-designed and bio-sourced materials, high-efficiency processes and clean technologies. To further its involvement in sustainable development, BIC has joined Bio-speed, a consortium bringing together multiple groups, including Danone, Faurecia, Lego, Michelin, L’Oréal and Quicksilver, for the purpose of accelerating the emergence of a biomass economy. Its goal is to reduce fossil fuel dependency and the environmental footprint of manufactured products by promoting the conversion of non-food biomass into polymers. Developing refillable and hybrid products BIC makes an ongoing effort to launch refillable products due to their environmental advantages. However, in the case of low-end stationery products, the consumer demand for refills is virtually non-existent. In the Stationery category, BIC continues to offer refillable pens. For example, the BIC ® Gel-ocity ® line of refillable gel ink pens, the 4-Color™ and 4-Color™ 3+1, which combine three ink colors and a mechanical pencil, are all refillable. On the U.S. market, pen refills are available on a dedicated website: www.shopbic.com. They are also available on the website www.bicworld.com, which links to a European e-commerce site offering the BIC ® refill range. In the Shaver category, the BIC ® Hybrid shaver is sold as a handle with four-to-six heads. The underside of the handle is also ribbed to reduce the use of plastic without altering the shaver’s ergonomic characteristics, which are the same as those of a conventional handle. Because it comes with four-to-ten heads, the product’s performance life is at least four times that of a standard non-refillable shaver. Over its entire life cycle and for one year of shaving, the environmental impact of the BIC ® Hybrid shaver is 28% less than that of a similar non-refillable BIC ® model, like the BIC ®  Comfort 3 ® Action ® .

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• BIC GROUP - 2019 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •