The plastic in the pen is recycled, but is the pen recyclable?

Pilot B2P pen display, Vancouver, BC

Lots of firms have jumped on the recycling bandwagon. From clothing to office supplies, firms are finding ways to build their green credibility.

Some products; glass, metal, and paper, are easy to recycle. Other materials, most commonly plastics, are often much more difficult. Part of the problem is mixed materials in the plastic items, the other is a lack of labelling. Larger plastic items are usually labelled with the relevant recycling number, while smaller items lack the necessary recycling symbol.

Plastic Recycling Symbols
(Source: http://joyfusions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Joyfusions_ManukaHoney_Recycle.jpg)

Which brings us to these new pens from Pilot. While the pens may be made from plastic bottles, there is not really any mechanism to recycle the pens themselves. But if Pilot was really serious about recycling and the environmental toll of all of these pens then perhaps a different type of product might be better. Instead of a single-use pen that is made from recycled water bottles, how about a pen that uses a replaceable refill? That should lower the cost for consumers and keep thousands of pens out of the waste stream.

It is not enough to use recycled materials, redesigning products to reduce the environmental impact is a better approach. I wonder when firm's like Pilot will start to look at the complete environmental impact of their products.