What is the pronoun for this sentence The pencil sharpener needed to be emptied!?

The pronoun in the sentence "The pencil sharpener needed to be emptied" is it.

Here's why:

* "The pencil sharpener" is the subject of the sentence.

* "It" replaces "the pencil sharpener" to avoid repetition.

The sentence could be re-written as: It needed to be emptied.