How to use sustainable materials to make eyeglasses and sunglasses

Let’s talk about the sustainable materials for eyeglasses frame today.

100% RPET

What’s RPET? PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is the traditional plastic material used in packaging, such as plastic bottles. The “R” in front of PET means that the eyeglasses are made of RECYCLED PET (post-consumer plastic bottles). Normally 5-6 recycled bottles can be made into 1 pair of RPET eyewear.

Using the existing resources can not only reduce waste and give them a second life but also reduce environmental pollution.

PLA Eyeglasses-Plant Based, compostable/biodegradable

PLA, polylactic acid, is a kind of biopolymer material, which is usually made of starch from plants such as corn. We can use it to produce containers with similar properties and transparency to plastic. It’s eco-friendly for its unique performance.

WHEAT STRAW Eyewear –Plant-Based, compostable/biodegradable

The main material comes from organic wheat straw fiber, crushing selected rice husk, and mixing PP material by the machine.

The materials mentioned above are some traditional injection options.

Below I will introduce some advanced choices you may be more interested in,

which are also the focus of our factory.

BIO/ ECO – Friendly Cellulose acetate glasses frame

Cellulose acetate glasses frame is a plant-based biopolymer created from wood pulp and cotton, which makes it much more environmentally friendly than the cheap plastics used in most mass-produced eyewear. Bio-acetate means a higher percentage of cotton and wood. On top of that, it’s stronger, more comfortable, and more resistant to fading. M49 from Mazzucchelli is the most famous series you might know. https://www.mazzucchelli1849.it/pages/m49-bioplastic

Laminated wood sunglasses and eyewear

Instead of solid wood sunglasses, we highly recommend the updated process of laminated wood which is much stronger and environmentally, more colorful and you can combine it with acetate/metal/titanium spectacle frame to have fashion meet function.

Glasses accessories

We use the green materials not only for the glasses frame but also for the accessories.

BIO POL BAG/ RPET Cleaning cloth/pouches/Recycled Paper/wood/bamboo Packaging all available

A small change can make a big difference. LEAO has been always looking for green materials to make glasses and trying to make our own contribution to building a more sustainable future for the glasses industry.