BIC - 2020 Universal Registration Document

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

Our products [NFPS]

3.2.5

PRODUCTS DESIGNED TOMEET AND ANTICIPATE

CONSUMERS’ EXPECTATIONS [NFPS]

Risks and opportunities [NFPS] 3.2.5.1 [NFPS risk 8] Among its main CSR risks, BIC has identified risks related to reputation and brand. In the context of increasing environmental awareness, the brand image could be associated with so-called disposable single-use products, leading to customer disaffection for BIC ® products. In addition, BIC seeks to improve its communication operations, in particular concerning its products’ environmental and social performance, to ensure that they allow the Group to retain the confidence of its stakeholders. Meeting consumer expectations is also a source of opportunities for BIC, such as: positioning BIC as a responsible brand that delivers quality and ● safety through its long-term commitment and ambitious programs; highlighting its products’ environmental and social benefits, ● standing out on the brand’s markets and overcoming the disposable/sustainable contradiction; innovating in order to make BIC ® products affordable to all. ●

BIC is a maker of mass-market consumer goods. Since its founding, the Group has believed that its products should satisfy and anticipate the expectations of all of its consumers, in both developed countries and developing countries. BIC distinguishes its “customers” ( i.e., companies, public administrations and office supply distributors, as well as major mass-market retailers) from its “consumers,” the end users of its products. Customers are becoming increasingly demanding in terms of environmental and social performance of the products they buy, as well as the evaluation of their suppliers’ Sustainable Development Policies. They submit many questionnaires addressing increasingly specific and diversified topics. Retailers and wholesalers also want their collaborators in the distribution chain to show how they are helping to reduce the global environmental and societal impact of their operations, and impose increasingly strict requirements on the packaging of the products that they carry.

OVERCOMING THE DISPOSABLE/SUSTAINABLE CONTRADICTION

BIC ® products are very often stigmatized as “disposable”. Although not all of them are refillable, neither are they used just once. On the contrary, most of them offer long-lasting performance: more than two-km of writing for a ball pen, up to 3,000 flames produced for a lighter and 17 shaves for a triple-blade shaver. In addition, most of them are designed with no superfluous parts or features, using a minimum of raw materials, and BIC makes an ongoing effort to reduce their environmental impact in daily use. Each of the various products on the market, whether refillable or not, meets a specific consumer need.

3.2.5.2

Policies, actions taken, results

in addition to responding to its customers’ specific ● questionnaires on its CSR approach, BIC discusses all pertinent topics with them, including sustainable development issues, as part of its commercial relations. In certain cases these relations can take the form of partnerships. All the professional functions involved (marketing, communication, sales) are equipped with the tools they need to explain BIC’s Sustainable Development Program; BIC strives to make its products affordable to all. ● All the products that use recycled materials display the Moebius strip symbol as well as information to help consumers make their purchasing decisions. Some BIC ® products are NF Environnement certified, while others supply information on their environmental and social qualities (eco-values) to help consumers choose products that meet their expectations. The most appropriate approach is chosen for each continent or category. For example, the communication in Europe emphasizes the NF Environnement ecolabel certification of a given product, where it was manufactured, the amount of recycled materials in it or its writing length. In the Lighter category, the packaging for the BIC ® Maxi, the world’s bestselling lighter, mentions the number of flames (“Up to 3,000 lights” or “Up to 2x more lights”) and the website www.mybiclighter.com includes a section on performance. Encouraging consumers to adopt more responsible consumption habits

and perspectives [NFPS] Since its founding, BIC has strive to develop and offer simple, affordable products, leaving out anything superfluous, that meet consumers’ expectations, especially in terms of environmental and social performance. To that end, the Group develops various programs and policies: Writing the Future, Together #1 Fostering sustainable ● innovation in BIC ® products (see § 3.2.1.2); the “4 Rs” philosophy (see § 3.2.2); ● communication on the products’ environmental benefits in ● order to encourage more responsible consumption (see below); defined in 2013, the Responsible Communication Charter ● formalizes BIC Group’s integration of the Value of Responsibility in its communication. This Charter expresses BIC’s intention to share reliable information and release clear, accurate messages; it applies to all communication undertaken by the Group around the world towards all of its stakeholders; BIC participates in Walmart’s Thesis program (for shavers and ● writing instruments), which assesses suppliers’ sustainability performance according to indicators established by the Sustainability Consortium. BIC also carries out specific reporting for Walmart every year through the CDP Supply Chain and participates in the yearly Gigaton project;

97

• BIC GROUP - 2020 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •