Through our website you will see a range of sustainable glasses, all made from different materials. I’ll be diving like Tom Daley into the different materials and what makes them sustainable. From recycled plastic to bamboo, this article will discuss the lot.
Recycled Plastic Bottles
With a shockingly low global recycle rate of 13%, recycled plastic bottles are an excellent material to use. Not only are they durable, but they reduce the amount of waste to landfill and reduce the requirement for plastic production. On average, the frames made from this material that we use are made from 5 plastic bottles.
The journey begins in recycling facilities, where the plastic bottles are sorted, washed and chopped into flakes. The flakes are then blended, melted and turned into pre-recycled granules aka rPET. This rPET is the raw material that allows glasses production to occur. With modern 3D printing methods, this rPET soon becomes shaped into a stylish pair of glasses or sunglasses.
Recycled Metals
Metals are one of the few raw materials that are easily recycled, without damaging their original properties. Unlike plastic, metal is a naturally occurring resource, meaning that there is a finite amount of metal on the planet. The main metals we use in eyewear are titanium and aluminium. Although these are not naturally occurring ores, they are made from a combination of ores, mined from the ground. The process to form these metals is an expensive and produces a lot of carbon dioxide. It’s estimated that recycling of a tonne of aluminium saves nine tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere!
The process to turn your old baked bean can into a stylish pair of glasses starts in the recycling facility. The metal is initially stored and cleaned, then crushed into a denser state. The crushed metal is then melted and formed into flat sheets. These sheets are then used to be formed into your new pair of glasses.
These cans could one day be made into your next pair of glassesRecycled Fishing Nets
Abandoned fishing nets are the most common and most lethal form of plastic in the ocean. These nets are designed to trap fish and are commonly left abandoned in the sea by fishing companies. With durability being a main factor in their production, they are estimated to last up to 500 years in the sea before breaking down. Due to the scale of the problem it’s difficult to exactly know the amount in the sea, but earth.org have estimated between 500,000 and 1,000,000 tonnes of fishing nets are abandoned in the sea each year.
Reducing the amount abandoned nets in the sea is a huge concern for conservationists, so the development of production methods to recycle abandoned fishing nets is a huge step forwards.
For the frames we stock, the nets are collected from the English and Welsh coastline. These nets are then recycled by separating them by polymer type and put through a mechanical process of washing, shredding and agglomeration. The raw material produced is then injection moulded into useful products, such as sunglasses. Due to the strength of the polymer chains, all of the recycled fishing net glasses that we stock come with a lifetime guarantee.
From abandoned fishing net, to finished product.
Bamboo
Bamboo glasses are most commonly made from a species of giant bamboo. Not only is this very strong, but excellent for the environment. It’s an extremely fast growing plant and its carbon dioxide absorption far exceeds that of wood. These plants are grown in specific areas, therefore no risk of cutting down the rainforest! When the bamboo is harvested, the area is replanted with bamboo, to allow the plant to grow again.
After bamboo is harvested, it’s transported to a factory where it’s cleaned and treated. Then, using a precision cutting machine, the bamboo is formed into glasses. A kilo of bamboo can produce up to six pairs of sunglasses. The sunglasses are then sanded, polished and assembled into wearable sunglasses. A final step of varnishing the frames to ensure they are water and heat resistant; then they are fully functional.
