Page 10 - Envision - July/August 2020

Cover Story

FR OM W A S T E T O W O W

A GUIDE TO ECO-FRIENDLY
EYEWEAR PRODUCERS

undreds of companies world-wide produce sustainable
Hoptical eyewear and sunwear, using recycled or / Franáois van den Abeele /
sustainable materials and processes like 3D printing. Here
is a snapshot of some of them.

COMPANY: SEA2SEE “The Sea2see philosophy is based on taking / mod. Capri /
environmental action to help save the ocean and making
each person who wears Sea2see part of the change.”
CEO François van den Abeele
Material: 100 per cent marine plastic waste
Sea2see Eyewear is made exclusively from ocean waste,
including abandoned fishnets, ropes, lines and bottles.
The company works directly with Spanish and Ghanaian
fishermen to recover the waste, separating what it can use
for eyewear production and selling the rest to be recycled.
The company up-cycles the plastic into a reusable raw ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE:
material in the form of pellets called UPSEA™ PLAST, Sea2see works with thousands of fishermen in 37 ports in
which is molded and handpainted in Italy. UPSEA™ PLAST Spain and Ghana, collecting 500 kg of plastic waste daily.
is Cradle to Cradle™ Gold Certified, offering a quality It is the first eyewear company to champion a vertically
finish and robust, lightweight properties. Packaging integrated sustainable business model, creating its own
is made from sugar cane extract and printed with infrastructure for collecting marine plastic waste, then
plant-based inks. using it as raw material to create high-quality frames.

COMPANY: NEUBAU EYEWEAR “At neubau eyewear, we believe in
a fair and sustainable world, and everyone can contribute
without having to give up an urban and fashionable style.”
Materials: Polymer from naturalPX, an environmentally
friendly material largely made from organic and / mod. Bill 4560 /
renewable raw materials.
Sixty-five per cent of naturalPX is extracted from the
seeds of ricin (castor bean) plants. The rest is conventional lighter than conventional acetate. The finishing and
polymer, which reinforces strength and elasticity. sealing processes produce frames with a beautiful, finely
neubau is the first European brand to produce fully pored surface, which look and feel great.
sustainable glasses using 3D printing. natural3D is ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE:
a 100-per-cent bio-based polymer made from castor oil neubau supports non-profit projects that revitalize nature in
beans, which enables neubau to produce frames without urban areas. It works with the Salatpiraten urban garden in
creating any waste. Vienna, sponsors beehives of the Honey Bee Conservancy
natural3D is free from plasticizers, flexible and in New York, and assists gabarage, a Viennese upcycling
impact-resistant. 3D printed eyewear is also 30 per cent design label, which brings used materials to new life.

8 / JULY — AUGUST 2020 / www.ENVISIONMAGAZINE.ca /