Eyestylist

The last months have seen some particular highlights in the drive towards sustainable activity across the independent segment of the eyewear industry. Actions range from a much higher transparency about individual company commitments to genuine sustainable goals as well as ongoing innovation in recycling and re-purposing waste and discarded products to make beautiful high-quality frames…the examples below are among the most notable developments we have identified in recent weeks….

RECYCLED MATERIALS: GREATER TRANSPARENCY ABOUT EYEWEAR MATERIALS IN USE

Mykita draws attention to the importance of recycling which is key to the circular economy, helping to protect natural resources. Setting a standard for sharing details about the specific materials in its collections, most recently, the company has published the details about the metal materials it is currently using. Over 90% of purchased frame materials at MYKITA are recycled:

“Our metal frames are made from stainless steel consisting of 90% recycled content. We now also return our leftover stainless steel as raw material to our supplier’s recycling plant in Sweden – a closed loop operation.” Image above: courtesy of Mykita

Already in 2022, for their acetate collections, Mykita fully switched to using recycled acetate in a partnership with Eastman, the producers of Eastman Acetate Renew, a bio-based material made from certified sustainable wood pulp that uses recycled waste plastics in place of fossil based resources. www.mykita.com

DEMO LENSES: A MOVE TO RECYCLED + RECYCLABLE MATERIALS

In Autumn 2022, the French company Morel introduced recycled and recyclable demo lenses in 100% of their frames. The demonstration lenses, built with recycled acrylic, make up a virtuous circle as they are infinitely recyclable, the Morel team say.

At Morel, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions are separated into three main themes: product commitment, environmental commitment, and social responsibility. To be open and transparent about these activities and how they will evolve for the future, the company has published a manifesto which details their projects and progress in these areas, available from their website at www.morel-france.com

DEVELOPING CIRCULAR OPERATIONS TO REMOVE WASTE FROM THE SEA + CREATE “SEASTAINABLE” PRODUCTS

The B CORP Certified and Carbon Negative company Sea2see has created its own Foundation in Africa to enable an ongoing collection of rubbish from the coast by the local communities. Those involved are paid for the work, and the collection to clean up the marine environment is centered around 20 fishing communities in Ghana, involving around 500 people with a collection success of 25,000 kg (on average) of waste collected each month. Sea2see is now driving this model in other regions including Senegal, since 2020. Some of the waste is turned into a certified raw material called UPSEA™ PLAST which has obtained Cradle to Cradle Gold Certification. The material is suitable to make robust, strong eyewear which is comfortable to wear and bright and colourful – manufactured to high quality standards in Italy – as well as a stylish collection of watches which Sea2see produces at one of the leading watch makers in Switzerland. Find out more about Sea2see activities at www.sea2see.org

PIONEERING DEVELOPMENT IN RECYCLING / REPURPOSING EYEWEAR / CREATING UNIQUE COLOURS AND PATTERNS IN NEW “REGRIND” DESIGNS – PROCESS REQUIRES UP TO 35% LESS Co2 THAN VIRGIN ACETATE

REGRIND represents a step forward in recycling old disused eyewear and creating a raw material from the old frames, which is then used in a new circular production. The success of the REGRIND process continues to grow – with the creation of aesthetically colourful and stylish varieties (the material is patented ISCC and certified bio-circular – produced in Sweden), that have a wide choice of marbled, flecked, smokey, stone-inspired and Havana-like colorations. The materials are now available to all eyewear designers.

The couple behind the REGRIND innovation – Emilia and Erik Lindmark – who are the co-founders also of EOE Eyewear showed their most recent REGRIND frame designs at OPTI in January in a limited edition that is striking and bold, both in colour and finish. To find out more about REGRIND visit our interview with the creators about the creation of the new material: https://www.eyestylist.com/2022/06/regrind-an-innovative-approach-to-circular-design/ www.regrind.se

Eyestylist is interested to hear from all independent optical/frame companies who wish to talk about their latest steps in becoming more sustainable. Please contact us at [email protected] – this feature was written by EYESTYLIST.COM – all rights reserved.