Design Life-Cycle

Meena Rugh

Professor Cogdell

DES 4oa

15 March 2018

BiC Lighter: Materials

In 1973 the already successful company BiC—which had already launched several versions of the original ballpoint pen—released their first pocket lighter. This came right after Flaminaire, a french lighter manufacturer began working for the company. It was immediately profitable. The BiC website focuses primarily on the “reliability and quality” (BicWorld) of their pocket lighter which led to its sudden success. These extensive safety measures the company boasts about are very much important in the pocket lighter industry, seeing as they can be quite dangerous. However, in focusing so much on this aspect, BiC ultimately fails to openly discuss the ecological impacts this product has and actively chooses not to make the product more environmentally conscious when their are simple solutions. By doing this, customers have to seek their own solutions in order to reduce their ecological footprint. For this project I researched each material component of the pocket lighter in order to fully understand what goes into this process. Through examining the raw materials used throughout a BiC lighter’s lifecycle, I was able to analyze the efficiency of those materials and their effect on the environment.

The pocket lighter is composed of a lot of small but essential parts. The body, base, and fork of a standard BiC pocket lighter are composed of plastic and the raw material delrin. The body and base contain the lighter fluid, which is called isobutane. The sparkwheel, which is essential for triggering the flame, is made of serrated hardened steel wire. The hood and guard which house the sparkwheel are also made of steel. The valve is made of aluminum, the jet is made of brass, and the jet and fork springs are made of low alloy steel. The ball that seals the gas reservoir is made of carbide steel. In addition to the materials involved in the pocket lighter itself, the packaging also plays a huge role on the environment as well. The packaging of the lighter is made up of paper and plastic. The body and base of the pocket lighter are ultrasonically welded together along with the sparkwheel, hood, guard, fork/fork spring, flint/ flint spring, jet, and valve. The lighter’s gas reservoir is filled with isobutane and then sealed with the ball. Throughout this research essay I will be going over the raw materials that make up the parts individually to get an idea of the overall environmental impacts a BiC lighter has.

To start off, the body and base of a BiC pocket lighter is made of plastic and the raw material delrin (or acetal resin) which is a thermoplastic engineering polymer that is manufactured through the polymerization of formaldehyde. According to my research delrin has a lot of benefits, including it’s high resistance to impact and chemical resistance to fuels, making this material highly beneficial for lighter manufacturing. However, plastic is not the most environmentally friendly material as it has been known to release harmful chemicals ultimately leading to air and water pollution. I could not find what kind of plastic is used in the manufacturing process of a BiC lighter, which leads me to believe that it is most likely not an environmentally conscious form and BiC does not want to advertise that.

Within the body and base of the pocket lighter is the gas reservoir that holds the isobutane fuel. Before researching this fuel I was sure I would find it to be a harmful chemical, but I was surprised to find that it is actually not a butane but an isomer of butane with a different structural formula. That means that unlike butane, isobutane has not been found to negatively impact global warming or harm the ozone layer. Isobutane is actually being used to enhance the production of isooctane in the petrochemical industry. Although this fuel may be environmentally conscious, it can be dangerous and shouldn’t be exposed to temperatures higher than 151 degrees fahrenheit.

Some other materials that make up the inner parts of a pocket lighter include steel, aluminum, and brass. The production of steel impacts the environment due to air emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2). It also produces water emissions and other hazardous wastes.

The production of aluminum is a lot different. Aluminum products typically come from recycled aluminum, and while that sounds sustainable the process of creating that secondary (recycled) aluminum uses a lot of energy. Compared to steel, aluminum requires a lot more energy in production; “211 GJ per tonne, compared with 22.7 per tonne for steel” (greenspec).

Finally, brass is composed primarily of copper and zinc making it strong but not as strong as steel. Brass is a good conductor of heat which is probably why it is used as part of a pocket lighter. Most products made from brass are recycled since the material is so resilient and resistant to corrosion. Although these materials make up such a small part of a pocket lighter, it is important to note because they are mass produced and can lead to long term environmental issues.

Part of the manufacturing process of a BiC lighter includes the packaging. The materials involved in that part of the design, are plastic and paper. More specifically, a cardboard backing with a plastic seal so as to display the appearance of the lighter or lighters while providing information and advertising on the paper backing. According to tips from the Environmental Protection Agency, consumers should try to avoid packaging of this style because it is unnecessary and ultimately wasteful. Even though paper and plastic packaging can be separated and recycled, they still generate energy and waste regardless. Environmental awareness starts with the consumer because demand is what changes the way products are produced.

Although BiC could create an easy way to make their lighters re-usable or at least recyclable, they choose not to do so. Through my research I have found blog posts and youtube videos that show people taking apart a BiC lighter in order to recycle parts of it or refill it with butane. Although these are possible options for consumers, they are not easily accessible and require specific tools to complete. It is all too easy for people to throw out their used lighters and buy a new one for under two dollars. Only a select few environmentally conscious people would actually go through the time consuming task of refilling or recycling their lighters.

Overall, I found it was difficult to find information about the BiC lighter as a whole that wasn’t written from the BiC company themselves. When breaking down each material it became easier to really see everything that goes into this small product and how much of an environmental impact these raw materials truly have. Although I was surprised that isobutane has not been found to have any negative ecological effects, pretty much all of the other materials involved in the manufacturing process aren’t like that at all. It was interesting yet disappointing to discover that although some of these materials tend to be recycled, such as aluminum and brass, that fact alone doesn’t mean that they are sustainable.

Bibliography

Shared Sources

bicworldusa. “2013 BiC lighters manufacturing.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Apr. 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk_b3QvNjUA.

“BiC Company Statistics.” Statistic Brain, Statistic Brain Research Institute, 26 Sept. 2017,

www.statisticbrain.com/bic-company-statistics/.

“BiC Pocket Lighter: Safety Data Sheet.” 9 May 2015,

http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/MSDS/100-015-058_ECHO%20SIGMA%20EMERGENCY%20GER%20HOME%20BAG%20SOC%20KIT%20-%20E90_default.pdf.

“How Does a BiC® Lighter Work? | Mybiclighter.” Bic,

www.mybiclighter.com/en/safety-quality/how-does-bicr-lighter-work.

Individual Sources

“Aluminium Production & Environmental Impact.” Greenspec, Greenspec,

www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/aluminium-

production-environmental-impact/.

Delrin (Acetal Homopolymer) . Plastics International,

www.plasticsintl.com/datasheets/Delrin_150.pdf.

Delrin. du Pont de Nemours and Company,

www2.dupont.com/Plastics/en_US/assets/downloads/design/DELDGe.pdf.

“Environmental Impact | Packaging | Technik.” Technik Packaging Machinery,

25 Nov. 2015, www.technikpackaging.com/environmental-

impact-packaging-materials/.

“How Brass Is Made.” How Products Are Made,

www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Brass.html.

“Isobutane.” Tech-FAQ, Independent Media, 2018, www.tech-faq.com/isobutane.html.

Kimball, Everett L. “Butane Lighter Assembly.” Google Patents, Google, 21 Jan. 1974,

patents.google.com/patent/US3895904A/en.

Smith, Callum. “Materials BIC Lighter.” Prezi, 23 Oct. 2013,

prezi.com/tr3empvqi4ex/materials-bic-lighter/.

“Steel Production & Environmental Impact.” Greenspec, Greenspec, 2018,

www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/steel-products-and-

environmental-impact/.

wikiHow. “How to Put Lighter Fluid in a Lighter.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 27 June 2017,

www.wikihow.com/Put-Lighter-Fluid-in-a-Lighter.

Kaying Xiong

Energy Usage of BIC Lighter: Life Cycle

BIC is a manufacturer of common stationery products we use such as ballpoint pens, shavers ad lighters. Many of these are affordable and easily used by consumers. BIC began producing lighters in 1973, which are now a large portion of products they produce (BIC). Everyday, they make about 6 million lighters (BIC Lighters). They have sold roughly 30 billion since their release, making them today’s largest manufacturer of branded lighters (BIC). They are efficient, easy to use and safe. BIC states their effort in concern for the environment and their energy usage, but due to their large production goals, mass amounts will still be required.

Details about where they get there raw materials from where not found. However we know what each component is made out of. The BIC lighter was made to be especially safe, and for that to happen, it requires more precision in their machines and using trusted materials. It also contains various types to serve its function of lighting a flame, including a liquid gas, metals and plastics.

In their production, to have precision in every model, BIC uses a cold stamping process (BIC Lighters). This method places a material into a die and punches it into a desired shape at room temperature (How). These are most likely used for the thinner metal pieces in the lighter. It does not require intensive heating to melt the metal it acts on, which saves energy. Since the material is only getting shaped, it is durable because it “[maintains] its grain structure”(How). This means that as parts are not getting chipped off, the metal will still have its original structure.

Cold stamping can be costly, however, ranging about $5000 to $25000, for the necessary tools and installation. Compared to most manufacturing machines, cold forming is more energy efficient and creates accurate high quality dimensions. But it still consumes a lot of energy to design, put into place, and function. Specific data for the energy measurements were not found due to the variations and complexity in the calculations.

Another important component to the lighter is the delrin body, which holds the fuel and makes up most of the lighter’s outer appearance. Delrin is a homopolymer acetal, a plastic that works well with a wide range of temperatures, has high endurance, and can sustain impact (DuPont). BIC utilizes these properties to make their lighters safer and thinner, holding more fuel for longer lasting and minimal usage of plastic.  

Delrin must be heated to a certain temperature to be molded and shaped. A little below 170 degrees celsius is where the material has the most viscosity (DuPont). The body for BIC’s lighter is made by injection molding, which is common for mass producing plastics. BIC states that their lighters are well managed and safe because of their zinc alloy die casting, a type of injection molding. To be used for injection molding, it needs to reach about 210 degrees Celsius (DuPont). Injection molding however uses extensive amounts of energy with the burning of fossil fuels (Weissman). They can offer up to 60,000 PSI (Diecasting). I could not find where and how the plastic is obtained or extracted from.

The hoods and guard of the BIC lighter serve the purpose of protecting from the heat and staying child-resistant (Quality). These are both made from steel through a cold hammering die process, where they are cut and stamped into shape (Smith). Die cutting can leave leftover scraps that are cut off. I did not find information on whether these scraps can be reused or if they remain as waste. Die cutting machines can be manually done or powered by electricity, but there were no specifications on how BIC uses or handle theirs for these lighter parts.

Another key element in BIC lighters is the fuel: pure isobutane. I could not find information about the processing of the gas they used, or about isobutane itself, but the gas is closely related to butane and carries similar properties and procedures.

Butane is a component of liquid petroleum gas which can be found naturally in compounds like crude oil (Lui). To get its pure form, it would have to go through an isolation process through distillation columns. These are very energy extensive through the heating process to separate the gas and is also harmful to the environment as the crude oil is burned (Crude). After getting extracted, butane will then often be “stored under atmospheric pressure” to remain liquified (Lui).

Other parts of the lighter include a sparkwheel, which is made of “serrated hardened steel wire”, a flint made of ferrocerium to help create a spark, and multiple small steel springs and pieces that pieces the lighter together.

There are not descriptions of BIC’s exact manufacturing process in most parts. But from their data, they do have less of an environmental impact and consume less energy compared to most manufacturing sectors. Many do not narrow to just lighters but they gave statistics for the overall company.

BIC stated that in 2016, their energy consumption was 11.77 gigajoules per ton produced (For). For transportation, BIC states that 97.7 percent of their intra-company transfer is not done by air freight (For). This creates less of an environmental impact as air freight emits higher CO2. As most lighters are not individually packaged, 71.3 % of BIC lighters in the US in 2016 were sold without packaging.

Their total greenhouse gas emission from the combustion of fossil fuels, primary natural gas, and fuel oil was about 8689 teq CO2 (For). Most of this energy was used for heating the building and probably to carry out production (For).

As BIC made lighters to be disposable, after its use is over, people do not want to keep them. It has also been cheaper to dispose of lighter and buys new ones rather than repair or refill them.  The lighter comes in multiple models: electronic, maxi, slim, mini, and mini tronie. The Maxi lighter can light up to 3000 flames. One holds an average of 4.9 grams of fuel (For). Although some people have figured out ways to refill BIC lighters, it can be tedious and take time to learn. BIC has made them present this disposable quality well with their cheap plastic outer appearance. Therefore people would not go out of their way to properly recycle these or invest their time in refilling and making the item sustainable. As most of BIC’s plastic products are petroleum-based,  they “leave toxic particles which overtime only partially break down to molecular proportions” (Ziimring).

To recycle, lighters must be taken apart to separate the metal pieces and the plastics. However, BIC states that due to their quality and safety, their lighter may be hard to separate for recycling and BIC does not have any recycling program (BIC).

The recycling for Delrin can be complicated and expensive because of its properties. The material can be remolded if it is clean, but when exposed to many outside factors, like post-consumer parts, will degrade and can contaminate the sprue and runners (DuPont). If not recycled or incinerated with energy recovery, the plastics for BIC lighters will most likely be found in landfills (DuPont).

Only about 9.5 percent of the plastics BIC uses for their stationery goods are recycled (For). As BIC produces many plastic products, their lighters are not meant to be recycled. BIC reports their hazardous waste treatment in 2016 with 11 percent getting recycled, 49% getting incinerated with energy recovery, 8 percent being sent to land disposal and 32 percent being sent to other form of treatment or disposal (For). Their production of waste for 2016 is .032 tons per ton produced, for hazardous wastes, and .235 tons per ton for non-hazardous wastes (For).

Many environmental concerns have been addressed by BIC which they state have looked out for and improved to the best of their abilities. Safety concerns have been stated as their priority. They have engrossed their production towards making sure they have reduced the risks of the lighters to the smallest amount. This comes with a large efforts in checking and reviewing lighters in their production and ensuring no defects or unplanned events occur.

Unlike many cheap disposable lighters, BIC lighters comply well to safety standards, which also mean they require more energy and effort to process. BIC spends a great deal on their quality checks. Employees in their lighter plants spends nearly 25 percent of his/her time checking and ensuring the products are properly being manufactured and functioning (BIC Group). There are ongoing verification checking stations where they use advanced technologies such as digital cameras, flow meters, proximity detectors, force sensors, and gas detectors to scan and confirm the lights are at their best quality (BIC Group). Overall, they go under more than 50 individual automatic checks.

As a large manufacturer of disposable lighters, BIC puts attention to their production and the environmental problems they may cause. In order to keep their lighters at this level of efficiency and quality for a low price, they are not easy to recycle and many turn up in wastelands or the ocean.

Works Cited

“BIC Gas Lighter / Bic Utility Lighter Product Data Sheet.” Earlyyears, BIC, www.earlyyears.co.uk/media/catalog/PDF/COSHH/820022.pdf.

“BIC Group Redon Lighter Factory Site Visit December 17, 2010.” BIC.

“BIC Lighters Manufacturing.” Youtube, Bicworldusa, 11 Apr. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk_b3QvNjUA.

“Crude Oil Distillation and the Definition of Refinery Capacity.” U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis, 5 July 2012, www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=6970.

“Diecasting Alloys.” Zinc International Zinc Association, www.zinc.org/diecasting/.

“Die Casting Manufacture.” The Library of Manufacturing, thelibraryofmanufacturing.com/die_casting.html.

“DuPont Delrin acetal resin Molding Guide.” DuPont, 2006.

“For You For Everyone Registration Document.” BIC, 2016.

“How It Works - Cold Forming makes fasteners and a lot more.” Today's Machining World, Today's Machining World, Jan. 2008, todaysmachiningworld.com/magazine/how-it-works-cold-forming-makes-fasteners-and-a-lot-more/.

Lui, K., et al. “A New Adsorption Process to Intensify Liquefied Petroleum Gas Recovery from Raw Natural Gas.” Energy Procedia, vol. 75, 28 Aug. 2015, pp. 853–859. ScienceDirect, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610215009510.

“Quality & Safety, How Does a Bic Lighter Work?” My Bic Lighter, www.mybiclighter.com/en/safety-quality/how-does-bicr-lighter-work.

Weissman, Alexander, et al. “A Systematic Methodology for Accurate Design-Stage Estimation of Energy Consumption for Injection Molded Parts.” Proceedings of the ASME 2010 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, ws680.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=905587.

Ziimring, Carl A. “ Societé BIC.” Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste: The Social Science of Garbage, Volume 1, Edited by William L. Ratheje, illustrated ed., vol. 1, SAGE, 2012.

Olivia Fliege

DES 40a

3/15/18

BIC Lighter Waste and Emissions

BIC lighters are such a common household product, that not many people give them a second thought. They are a product that everyone can make use of. Because of their small size, BIC lighters are often overlooked when examining household waste contributors. However, even though BIC lighters may be small, they have an expansive life cycle that warrants a closer look at BIC’s impact on the world. Since lighters are inherently dangerous and pose a risk for injury, the primary goal of a lighter company is to generate the most revenue while ensuring the safety of its customers. Because of this focus on making lighters people friendly and safe, less concern is placed on environmental ramifications. Despite the need for safety and the desire for revenue, BIC does take the opportunity to decrease waste emissions when possible. Throughout this essay we will explore the environmental impact of plastic lighters which are exacerbated by the desire for increased profit and safety.

The life cycle of a BIC lighter begins with its production. BIC lighters are composed of a plastic base filled with isobutane, a sparkwheel, a hood, a fork and fork spring, flint and a flint spring, a jet, and a valve. The plastic parts of the lighter (the base and body) are made of a specific form of plastic called acetyl resin or Delrin (BIC, 2018).

Although we couldn’t find any specific details on the production of Delrin, it is clear that it is formed through the polymerization of formaldehyde (Dupont). Although safe once the plastic has been formed, formaldehyde is highly toxic with a “pungent, highly irritating odor that is detectable at low concentrations, but may not provide adequate warning of hazardous concentrations for sensitized persons” (Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry, 2014). While the formaldehyde is safely and properly contained during Delrin production, it is important to note the potential hazardous materials that could become hazardous waste if not disposed of correctly. While there are numerous sources on the physical properties of Delrin, there isn’t sufficient public evidence on its production, and, therefore, the waste that comes from its production. Assuming Delrin production is similar to ordinary plastic production, greenhouse gases are the main emission from plastic production. In fact, “Plastics production is responsible for 1% and 3% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and primary energy use, respectively” (Posen, 2017). Because Delrin is a heat resistant chemical resistant plastic, it’s a necessity to use as a base for BIC lighters as a safety measure. Isobutane is another major material used to help ignition of the flame.

Isobutane is created in gas processing refineries by refining butane through a process called isomerization (Mitchell, 2013). Compared to other similar fuel sources, isobutane is relatively low in waste emission. This is because isobutane “has negligible ozone depletion and Global Warming Potential” (Tech-faq, 2018). The sparkwheel, hood and guard parts of the lighter are made up of steel. Although BIC doesn’t provide the specific type of steel used or the way its produced, we can assume it is similar to the way typically steel is produced. Because steel needs carbon for its production, it produces excessive amounts of carbon dioxide as a byproduct. In fact, steel production “account[s] for as much as 5 percent of the world’s total greenhouse-gas emissions” (Chandler, 2013). Because steel is non flammable and safe to use in a lighter, little consideration is taken on the environmental ramifications. Even though very small amounts of steel are used in each lighter, BIC produces 4.2 million lighters everyday (BIC, 2018) which adds up to a lot of steel total.

The other metals used in bic lighters are aluminum and brass. Aluminum production produces perfluorocarbon, a type of fluorinated greenhouse gas that pollutes the environment (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). Meanwhile, brass production adds both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide to the environment (Technikon, 2008). Flint is the last material used to make bic lighters, and, since it’s a naturally formed type of rock, it doesn’t produce waste like the other refined metals and plastics. For safety purposes, BIC uses materials that produce damaging waste products.

After all the materials for the BIC lighter are created, the lighter is then assembled using a process known as ultrasonic welding. Unlike traditional welding, ultrasonic welding uses “high-frequency mechanical oscillations cause molecular and interface friction in the joining zone. This creates the heat required for welding and the material is plasticised” (Sonotronic, 2018). Because this process relies on heat and vibrations, there is virtually no waste when compared to traditional welding processes. By using environmentally friendly welding techniques that produce little to no waste, BIC accomplishes it’s safety needs by making sure all parts are meticulously put together while also reducing harmful emissions.

The next step in the BIC life cycle is distribution and transportation. Like most commercial products, BIC lighters are transported by motor vehicles and planes. With four main factories to produce their lighters, and with 4.2 million lighters produced daily, BIC utilizes mass amounts transportation to move their products all over the world (BIC, 2018). Cars and trucks are one of the biggest contributors to waste, both in our landfills and in our atmosphere: “Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all US emissions, emitting around 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas” (Union of Concerned Scientists). While most companies rely on cars and trucks to transport products, it’s still an undeniably huge issue that isn’t addressed anywhere on BIC’s website. However, BIC does make an effort to reduce waste in terms of distribution. When it comes to the packaging of BIC lighters, “71.3% of all BIC lighters in the U.S. were sold in 2016 without consumer packaging” (BIC, 2018). This is a huge step forward in reducing the amount of needless waste that comes from unnecessary packaging. It is important to note that this statistic is from the BIC website itself, and they only provide information for the year 2016. There was no other statistical evidence through BIC or any other source to suggest that BIC sold a similar or different percentage of lighters without packaging in any other year. It’s clear to see that BIC wants to present itself to the world as concerned with its environmental impact, and there is an effort made to reduce unnecessary waste.

After distribution, BIC lighters are purchased and used my people all over the world. Since the only purpose of the actual lighter is to produce a flame, the waste product of a BIC lighter in use is carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Since the flame produced by the lighter is relatively small and short lasting, the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions aren’t very high. However, because BIC lighters are so accessible, they can easily be used to start much larger fires that can produce much larger carbon dioxide emissions and carbon monoxide emissions.

While most of the BIC lighter is technically recyclable, it is not easy to recycle. The packaging of the lighter is typically plastic and cardboard which is easily recyclable. However, when it comes to the lighter itself, things get more complicated. If the average person were to try and figure out how to recycle a BIC lighter, they would often find themselves on the BIC lighter website under the FAQ section. The second question here reads,

Q.  Are your products recyclable?

A.  As a consumer products company, BIC is keenly aware of the environmental concerns associated with the usage and disposal of any consumer product; and we recognize and accept our responsibility to address those concerns.  We encourage you to visit our website (http://www.bicworld.com/us/sustainable-development/index/) to learn about the many ways that BIC minimizes the environmental impact of our products and our operations, as well as how we address other issues of sustainability. (BIC, 2018)

While the company says they are environmentally friendly, they don’t actually explain how to recycle a BIC lighter, it only redirects the customer to another website. Furthermore, the second website also fails to provide proper information on how to recycle the lighters. Instead, they share statistics on the amount of energy and water they have saved in the past few years (BIC, 2018). While these stories may be nice, they fail to provide necessary information to help decrease the amount of lighters that end up as waste.  Because the lighter parts are ultrasonically welded together, they are hard to dismantle and individually recycle in the proper manner. While many parts of the lighters are theoretically recyclable, this is not the reality. The difficulties of taking the lighter apart makes the recycling of bic lighters infrequent.

The BIC lighter life cycle ends with waste management. Because of the difficulty many customers have in refilling and recycling their lighters, many of them end up in the trash. Aspects of the lighter, like the plastic base made of delrin, are not biodegradable and end up increasing the accumulation of garbage in our landfills. The ability to refill the lighters with isobutane is one method of keeping lighters out of our landfills. However, this process can be long with several steps. It also requires the owner of the lighter to by tools that they may not already have. Even with the time and the materials, there is a risk for cracking the lighter while trying to refill it (J, 2011). While reusing BIC lighters should be a straightforward process, the design of the lighter makes it difficult to refill, leading to usable lighters getting discarded as waste.

The life cycle of a BIC lighter contains several different aspects and stages, with each stage having its own waste emissions. With a potentially dangerous product like a lighter, BIC as a company needs to put the safety of its customers first. This makes the sustainability and waste control an afterthought. There are still many things that BIC tries to do to eliminate waste such as using isobutane instead of butane, using ultrasonic welding, not using commercial packaging on most of its products, and using recyclable materials. While there are still some major waste control issues, overall, BIC understands the need to work towards a better environmental future.

Works Cited

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“Car Emissions and Global Warming.” Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/car-emissions-and-global-warming#.Wqo6EJM-eCR.

Chandler, David L. “One order of steel; hold the greenhouse gases.” MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 8 May 2013, news.mit.edu/2013/steel-without-greenhouse-gas-emissions-0508.

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“Isobutane.” Tech-FAQ, 2018, www.tech-faq.com/isobutane.html.

J, Rachel, et al. “How to Refill a disposable Bic cigarette lighter.” WonderHowTo, WonderHowTo, 14 Feb. 2011, home-tools.wonderhowto.com/how-to/refill-disposable-bic-cigarette-lighter-423468/.

Mitchell, Callie. “RBN Energy.” You Can Just Iso my Butane: Isobutane and Isomerization in the Shale Gas World | RBN Energy, RBN Energy, 3 Oct. 2013, rbnenergy.com/you-can-just-iso-my-butane-isobutane-and-isomerization.

“Steel production & environmental impact.” Greenspec, Greenspec, 2018, www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/steel-products-and-environmental-impact/.

Posen, I Daniel, et al. “Greenhouse gas mitigation for U.S. plastics production: energy first, feedstocks later.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 12, no. 3, Jan. 2017, p. 034024., doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa60a7.

Sheya, Sue Ann. “Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Metalcasting Pouring, Cooling and Shakeout Operations.” Technikon, March 2008. http://www.afsinc.org/files/1413-211%20co%20co2%20variability%20pcs%20public_1383852424686_19.pdf

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“Ultrasonic Welding.” SONOTRONIC, 20 July 2016, www.sonotronic.de/technologies/ultrasonic/ultrasonic-welding.