2021 Universal Registration Document

NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE STATEMENT: OUR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

Our products [NFPS]

TOOLS TO FACILITATE THE ECO-DESIGN PROCESS

Life Cycle Analysis The practice of measuring the environmental performance of products has been extended by the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) approach. This method assesses a product’s total environmental impact in each successive phase. BIC often uses the simplified life cycle approach, which is similar to Life Cycle Analysis except that it does not include the final independent verification phase. From the outset of its Sustainable Development Program, BIC has been committed to the life cycle approach to verify that it is making steady progress on all fronts. The product design teams are equipped with an array of tools such as Pulse LCA and SimaPro, which allow them to carry out comprehensive environmental assessments as well as rapid analyses to facilitate decision-making during design. The measuring of product performance is a prerequisite to improving performance. BIC focuses on the stages of the product life cycle it can affect. For a shaver, its use by the consumer, which includes water consumption, water heating and the disposal of shaving cream packaging, is the most important stage (accounting for 78% of the environmental footprint according to some estimates). This makes consumer awareness all the more important. 100% of the new products are subject to environmental and societal measurement thanks to the systematic usage of EMA.

PERCENTAGE OF RECYCLED/ALTERNATIVE PLASTICS IN BIC ® PRODUCTS (%OF VOLUMES PURCHASED)

In 2021, EMA has been fully integrated into the development processes for stationery products, lighters and shavers and the teams have been informed and trained on the use of EMA. EMA is systematically presented to new employees during their onboarding into the BIC as well. The requirement for a product launch is that its environmental or societal performance must be improved compared to its basic design. To achieve this, improvement plans are deployed in the three BIC ® product categories. These are mostly based on the integration of recycled or alternative raw materials into the design. A version of the EMA for packaging has been tested in 2021. This new version will allow the evaluation of new packaging, its optimization and the reduction of its footprint, thus supporting the day-to-day decision making of packaging by the development teams. By the end-2021, 12 BIC ® products have been improved compared to their baseline version.

4.3%

4.0%

3%

2021

2019

2020

In 2021 the use of recycled plastic materials was of 4.0%, slightly below expectations. This is mainly due to delays generated by the need to guarantee the highest quality in the recycled plastic employed in BIC ® products.

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• BIC GROUP - 2021 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •