rethink sustainability
The CLIC® Chronicles: Sustainable eyewear company VIU on the environmental cost of clear sight
Perched at the end of our noses, on strings around our necks, or shoved into top pockets, many of us take for granted the glasses that prevent our days becoming a confusing mess. But in a culture where “two for one” deals are common and lost pairs can be quickly and cheaply replaced, few of us think about the environmental impact of making and disposing of our glasses.
Almost two-thirds of people wear eyeglasses every day1, creating a USD 170 billion global eyewear market that’s forecast to be worth USD 324 billion by 20302. However, producing all those glasses can be a wasteful enterprise. The plastics used in glasses frames are typically made from non-renewable (fossil fuel) oils in a highly polluting production process that also generates a great deal of waste plastic, which, being difficult to reintegrate into the process, typically ends up in landfill. The finished glasses are then wrapped in even more plastic before being shipped to customers, most of whom will eventually dispose of their glasses along with household waste destined for landfill, instead of recycling them.
In short, the glasses industry has a sustainability problem. The challenge isn’t being ignored: for instance, initiatives are in place to donate unwanted sunglasses to people who could not otherwise afford a pair, while frames have also been made from old CDs and other waste plastic. But is this enough?
Toxic and disposable
Glasses frames are usually made from plastic or metal, the latter often including materials that can be harmful to the environment3, such as lead and mercury. Even the small silicone pads that hold glasses in place on our noses are a problem, being extremely slow to break down in landfills.
All of this is compounded by our approach to using and disposing of glasses. We treat our glasses as disposable items, with opticians recommending eye checks every 18 to 24 months while offering cheap multi-buy deals on glasses. And glasses recycling rates are low: South African researchers found just 5% of wearers had used a recycling method when disposing of old glasses4. Little wonder, then, that serious questions are being asked around the ongoing environmental impact of the glasses industry.
Read also: The CLIC® Chronicles: Rethinking textiles for the circular economy
The solutions
The last decade has seen the glasses industry begin a gradual shift towards more sustainable production and disposal methods. Glasses frames are becoming more lightweight, while a number of young companies have sprung up to offer a fresh take on manufacturing.
In 2013, five friends joined forces to establish VIU: a Swiss glasses brand that aims to offer refined designs combined with traditional, sustainable production techniques at fair prices. “Sustainability is now becoming a hygiene factor,” says VIU’s Co-founder and COO, Peter Kaeser. “So it’s not something you can do or you cannot do. It’s a must.”
Watch our CLIC® Shapers film with VIU Co-founder Peter Kaeser:
VIU brings sustainability to every aspect of its business. For instance, the company’s acetates are made from 70% cotton extract, which comes from an Italian family-owned business. Among its many ongoing sustainability projects, VIU is working to make its glasses cases thinner to reduce its use of raw materials and create a smaller, lighter package for more sustainable shipping. VIU even uses green electricity to power product lighting throughout its stores.
Fabrice Aeberhard, Co-founder and Creative Director of this young company, says that innovation is central to VIU’s approach to sustainability. “We are constantly searching for new solutions and materials, with the focus on manufacturing even more sustainable products,” Aeberhard explains.
As part of this shift to modern, sustainable production methods, VIU offers a collection of 3D-printed glasses. “On the one hand, 3D printing enables us to offer our customers personalised products,” says Kaeser. “And on the other, it’s zero waste, because we produce the glasses to order.”
Alongside resource-saving production processes, VIU operates a direct distribution model that cuts out unnecessary middlemen for a leaner, more efficient operation that also enables them to offer their products at lower prices.
Reimagining recycling
With such low recycling levels within the industry, innovation is desperately needed to create a circular economy for glasses that keeps them out of landfill. Many opticians already offer recycling services, and consumers have been encouraged to help kick-start this process by purchasing more eco-friendly frames that already contain recycled materials. One company with a particular focus on recycled frames is UK-based Cubitts, which has produced prototype frames made from old CDs, potatoes, and even human hair.
Read also: The CLIC® Chronicles: 10 ways to build a circular economy and the companies leading the way
The industry is also under pressure to reduce the amount of plastic used in shipping, most of which will end up in landfill. This doesn’t always mean reinventing the wheel: simply using protective plastic sleeves on just one of the frame arms instead of both can make a big difference at industrial scale.
More innovative approaches to recycling have also emerged. For instance, VIU works with Shades of Love, an NGO working to distribute unwanted sunglasses to people in mountainous regions whose eyes are continually exposed to dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation. So far, the organisation has distributed around 460,000 pairs of sunglasses across the Himalayas and the Andes, with a new project set to begin soon in the Arctic.
Small steps
Since glasses became fast fashion, the negative environmental impacts have mounted. However, the problem hasn’t gone unnoticed, and young companies like VIU have emerged to show the industry that it is possible to do things differently.
Reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill is crucial to reducing raw material extraction, pollution, and emissions. And as people increasingly look to buy products that respect nature instead of harming it, glasses brands have a growing incentive to address their role in the problem.
1 Castloo, A. (2020) ‘Why people wear glasses may surprise you’, All About Vision
2 Statista (2022) ‘Estimated value of the eyewear market worldwide from 2022 to 2030’.
3 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/621/1527
4 Hansraj et al. (2021) ‘Spectacle frames: Disposal practices, biodegradability and biocompatibility – A pilot study’, African Vision and Eye Health.
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