The Writing Instruments Recycling Programme
Recycle your writing instruments with this programme
- Participating locations
- 743
- Waste recycled
- 3,926,192
- Money raised
- £45,406.36
Recycle your used pens, and other accepted waste in this programme
Writing Instruments are simple tools that we use on a daily basis, whether it be at home, school or work. Thanks to our partner BIC®, it is easy to recycle them for free, which helps to protect the environment.
Please note the programme is currently full. Please drop off your waste at an existing drop-off location.
Important!
Please note the programme is currently full. Please drop off your waste at an existing drop-off location.
Drop-off locations
How it works
Please note the programme is currently full. To recycle your writing instruments, please drop off your writing instruments at your nearest BIC® Community Champion (public drop-off location). To find your nearest public drop-off location, please use the interactive map above.
What you can recycle in this programme
Accepted waste in this programme : All writing instruments (except for wooden pencils and chalk) are accepted : Any brand of pen, felt tip, highlighter, marker, correction fluid pot, correction tape, mechanical pencil and eraser pen regardless of their composition.
Note that we do not accept glue sticks, erasers, rulers or other cutting objects that could disturb the recycling process. Please be careful not to include any of those items.
Please check out our Accepted Waste Poster below for more details.
Best practices for collecting
We advise the person in charge of any BIC® Community Champion location to send shipments of at least 15kg of used writing instruments. 15kg is the minimum weight requirement in order to receive £0.01 per writing instrument to donate to the school, charity or non-profit of the sender's choice.
Once your box is securely taped (with no loose edges or corners), print the pre-paid label from your TerraCycle account and attach it to the box. Then simply drop if off at a UPS access point or order a pick-up via UPS by calling 03457 877 877 and UPS will collect it directly from your location.
What happens to this waste
Once collected, the writing instruments are separated by material composition, cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products. Click here to learn more about the recycling process.
Rewards
This programme offers the following reward
Each shipment that weighs more than 15kg qualifies for TerraCycle points which you can redeem for the school, charity or non-profit of your choice. Remember that 1 TerraCycle Point is worth £0.01. If you do not have your own preferred school, charity or non-profit in mind then check out the list of default partner charities on our website.
Resources
Need help communicating to your community about what you are doing? Download our posters and leaflets below :
Ever wondered what we do with your used writing instruments once they are sent in for recycling? This short video explains the entire recycling process of the writing instruments from collection to the final transformation.
LEARN MORE ABOUT BIC®
Did you know that with a BIC® Cristal® pen that only weights 5.8 g, you could write for 3km? Along with several other BIC® writing and colouring instruments the BIC® Cristal® pen received the NF Environment Mark (NF 400) which rewards the best products in terms of quality and environmental impact.
More information.
