Pens - Green future

While the sector's clothing and toy suppliers have long been quizzed about their environmental and social policies, pen manufacturers have only really come under scrutiny from clients and prospects in the past couple of years, particularly since the carbon footprint debate hit the front pages of the national papers.

"Larger customers are showing more concern this year," says Natalie Lewis, customer marketing manager at pen manufacturer Staedtler. "Certainly, it's only in the past year to a year and a half that we have been questioned about our policies and practices."

The green message is also coming from the top levels of the manufacturers. "Corporate social responsibility is high on the agenda in the promotional market," says Melissa Chevin, marketing manager at Senator Pens. "More and more companies have environmental targets to meet."

As a result, many of today's pen manufacturers have put in place policies and procedures to ensure they lessen their impact on the environment, and are developing a growing range of green products.

Just what pen manufacturers and suppliers are doing to offset their carbon footprints is one of the most frequently asked questions by clients. Another concerns the ethics of the pen manufacturing process. Buyers do not want to acquire products if the workforce has been exploited.

Increasingly, too, clients are looking for pens that are made from recycled or biodegradable materials. Once the preserve of the public sector and charities, more and more firms - from FMCGs to financial services - are demanding greener products and suppliers.

Other client concerns include the toxicity of the inks used, how green the packaging is, and whether the refills conform to ISO 12757-1 and -2, the industry recognised standards for ballpoint pen inks and refills.

In response, pen manufacturers are reacting to these 21st century challenges in a number of ways.

Waste not, want not

Waste is a controversial issue and is dealt with in a variety of ways. One method is to put the waste back into the production process. Prodir turns the extraneous plastic from its pen moulds back into liquid plastic for re-use, and sends any plastic waste it can't use to a company that then uses it to manufacture storage boxes.

Staedtler also puts leftover plastic back into the pen-manufacturing process. The waste is reground and then mixed with new raw material. The company's Lumocolor range contains 39 per cent recycled material.

Pens made with a proportion of recycled plastic are easy to find. Those made from 100-per-cent recycled plastic are less common. Manufacturers say this is down to issues over where the recycled plastic may have come from and its associated air miles, as well as ethical concerns over the treatment of the workforce used in some countries.

Manufacturers such as Senator and Staedtler say they avoid these issues by doing the recycling in their own plants in Europe, as does Remarkable, which uses its own UK factory to recycle plastic cups into pencils.

Quality control

There are also concerns about the quality of pens made entirely from recycled plastic - one complaint is that the plastic can be brittle. "Recycled plastic has been injection-moulded once," explains Rod Duncan, managing director of Prodir. "When it is reheated and cooled, it can become quite brittle and crack."

Another issue is that raw plastic is almost colourless and can be dyed to become whatever colour you want. But with recycled plastic it is impossible to guarantee uniformity of colour.

However, for those to whom uniformity of colour is less of an issue, there are a growing number of specialist suppliers who can answer the demand for these products. Remarkable says its pencils made from recycled plastic cups have proved popular.

Everything Environmental, a trade-only supplier of recycled and eco-friendly business and promotional gifts, produces pens with a 100 per cent recycled plastic body. Evan Lewis, managing director of the company, claims the quality is as good as that of virgin plastic. "It is just more complicated to produce," he says. "But we have a broad range and, price-wise, 90 per cent of our range is like for like."

Other alternatives on the market include degradable pens made from traditional plastic but containing an additive that helps the material break down faster, and biodegradable pens. Promotional merchandise supplier Tomato Source has come up with a Seed Pen. Not only is the product made from corn starch, which is 100 per cent biodegradable, but it also includes aster seeds that can be planted.

Vegetable variations

Some manufacturers are increasing their use of more environmentally friendly inks, such as those that are made from vegetable sources. "Vegetable inks for personalisation on pens are more widely available now and will become more so," says Sophie Howes, director of Tomato Source.

Finally, manufacturers are going to lengths to cut down the amount of packaging and marketing material produced. Senator says its packaging is either 100 per cent recyclable or is made with up to 75 per cent recycled contents.

Some manufacturers have gone even further, with Prodir and Senator both involved with charities. Senator sends discontinued lines to charities, while Prodir has launched its own project to provide school kits for children in Mali (see box above).

The British Promotional Merchandise Association is also doing its bit. Under its environmental policy, it advises members to examine their carbon footprints, and is working towards creating an environmental standard. This year the organisation is to hold a green workshop at which the industry will be able to share eco-friendly ideas.

ECO WRITERS - ANY COLOUR AS LONG AS IT'S GREEN

Here is a selection of some of the most environmentally friendly pens on offer:

Company: Staedtler

Product: The Lumocolor range

The percentage of the plastic parts made from recycled material ranges from 22 per cent for the marker pens to 46 per cent for the triplus concept pens. Barrels and caps are made from polypropylene - the strength of which gives pens a long life - inks are free from xylene and toluene, and no heavy toxic metals or lead-based colouring agents are used.

Company: Senator

Product: Super Hit Eco

About 96 per cent of the barrel is made from recycled material. Melissa Chevin, marketing manager at Senator Pens, says: "Eco is produced using state-of-the-art injection moulding machinery with high energy efficiency. Unlike most ball pens, Eco requires just two plastic components because of its push mechanism, so less than seven grams of plastics are used in the production process." It also has a low carbon footprint because it is manufactured in Germany.

Company: Tomato Source

Product: The Seed Pen

The pen is made from corn starch, which is 100 per cent biodegradable, and contains aster seeds (a flower similar to a daisy) that can be planted. Tomato Source director Sophie Howes says: "It's a nice idea that goes some way towards helping us grow more carbon-dioxide-consuming plants in our environment." Its carbon footprint is also fairly low as it is made in Italy and then held and printed in the UK.

Company: Everything Environmental

Product: Storia Pen - Flat Clip

Everything Environmental only supplies eco-friendly pens, including the Arco pen, which is made from sustainable European timber, and the Realta, which is made from recycled CD cases. The Storia pen comprises a recycled card barrel and plastic components, and sustainable wooden clips. It can also be screen-printed to match any Pantone colour.

Company: Prodir

Product: The DS range

During the injection-moulding process of Prodir's pen casings, all extraneous plastic from the moulds is ground into granules and recycled back into liquid plastic for moulding. This means there is virtually no waste at the end of the manufacturing cycle. Any plastic waste is collected by a company that manufactures plastic storage boxes, as these are produced in grey and consistency of colour is not an issue. In addition, any waste metal left after drilling and shaping the nib is recovered and collected by a metal reclamation company. All pens are refillable.

OUT OF AFRICA - PRODIR GOES BACK TO SCHOOL FOR CHARITY

The environmental issue is not just about how you manufacture the pens - it is about what you do with them too. At Prodir's headquarters in Ticino, Switzerland, the company has launched a project to support education in Mali, west Africa.

Since 2004, the pen manufacturer has been a main sponsor of professional cycling team Saunier Duval - Prodir. One of the team's riders, Mauro Gianetti, had founded a humanitarian association called ReCyclingtheWorld, and started a reforestation project, aiming to plant one million trees in Mali.

During a trip to Mali, the seventh biggest country in Africa, Gianetti visited a local school and was struck by the lack of facilities. He discussed the situation with Prodir, and the project, "Ticino. A school for the world" was born.

Prodir is donating up to 800,000 pens to children in Mali, 100,000 of which are being sold by Ticino schoolchildren to raise the funds needed to provide school kits for children in Mali. Those being sold cost three Swiss Francs (£1.30) each - the cost of one kit that will help a child stay in school for a year. The rest will be printed and then delivered to charity Planete Urgence to be distributed throughout the country. The charity also provides the school kits, and producing them creates more jobs for the region.