• With billions of units produced each year, disposable lighters have a huge environmental impact.

  • In its historic factory in Redon, Bic has developed a machine capable of disassembling its own lighters in order to recycle them.

  • To set up this circular economy sector, the group is considering the best way to collect used lighters.

It is an object that every smoker has in his pockets. But nicotine addicts aren't the only ones using lighters. All over the planet, millions of people use it on a daily basis for cooking, heating, lighting or lighting birthday candles. Each year, nearly seven billion disposable lighters are put on the market around the world. The object is not recyclable, however, it poses a real concern for the planet, ending up either buried or cremated when it is not thrown into the countryside.

Aware of the ecological impact of its lighters, the giant Bic wants to change the lines.

In its historic factory in Redon (Ille-et-Vilaine), from which 750 million units are produced each year, the group has just, after seven years of research and development, designed a machine capable of disassembling its own lighters in order to recycle them.

“It's a world first,” says François Clément-Grandcourt, general manager of the lighter activity at Bic.

A collection channel to be set up

To manage the end of life of its objects, made of plastics and various metals, the group first tried to grind them. "But the level of purity of the material recovered did not allow it to be reused correctly", emphasizes François Clément-Grandcourt. The managers then opted for a disassembly process in order to better recycle the various components of the lighters.

For the past few days, several machines of a new kind have been in charge of boning Bic lighters piece by piece on the Redon site.

“This allows us to collect truly pure material that can be recycled and upgraded elsewhere,” says the CEO.

The quantities processed are currently quite limited.

Ready to ramp up, the group is waiting to define the best possible collection system, several options are currently being tested.

Soon, small cardboard boxes could appear at tobacconists or “places of consumption” in order to collect used lighters.

The group is also working on more "ecological" lighters.

Once the collection is in place, the Bic group will also have to choose the site where the dismantling and recycling of its lighters will take place.

"The Redon plant is an option but it could also be that of Tarragona in Spain", indicates François Clément-Grandcourt, specifying that the decision will be recorded "mid-2022".

In parallel with this emerging circular economy sector, the Bic group is also working on the production of more “ecological” lighters.

In the course of 2022, it will launch the Bic Maxi Ecolution, a new generation lighter which will have "a reduced carbon footprint and toxicity".

Planet

Coca-Cola is the most polluting company in the world for the third year in a row

Planet

Circular economy: Why we should be wary of too “obvious” recycling solutions

  • Redon

  • Environment

  • Planet

  • circular economy

  • Sustainable development

  • Economy

  • Recycling

  • 0 comment

  • 0 share

    • Share on Messenger

    • Share on Facebook

    • Share on twitter

    • Share on Flipboard

    • Share on Pinterest

    • Share on Linkedin

    • Send by Mail

  • To safeguard

  • A fault ?

  • To print