Product sustainability

As of 2020, we introduced Econyl® regenerated nylon into our eyewear collections. Econyl® is an innovative and sustainable material which is produced by regenerating recycled materials, thus helping to reduce environmental impact. Econyl® is obtained by regenerating synthetic (nylon) waste such as fishing nets, carpets and textiles. It has the same features as nylon from virgin sources or from oil, with no differences in quality or performance, and can be recycled, recreated and reshaped many times without losing its properties. Our aim is to expand the use of Econyl® regenerated nylon as much as possible by progressively introducing it into the collections of all the brands in our portfolio.

Eastman Acetate Renew, Eastman Tritan™ Renew and Eastman Tenite™ Renew, part of a broad portfolio of sustainable resins offered at scale by Eastman (a global specialty materials provider and pioneer in molecular recycling), have been introduced starting from January 2022 in Polaroid collections and then progressively rolled out across Safilo’s brand portfolio. Safilo announced that starting with the January 2023 collections it has also used Eastman Tenite™ Renew in its sunglass and prescription collections. Through this commitment, Safilo became the first player in the market to use all Eastman Renew materials for Eyewear in its portfolio, across all types of applications and production processes. Eastman Tritan™ Renew is a high performance copolyester made of 50% certified recycled content. Crystal clear, durable and BPA-free, it offers sustainability without compromise, ensuring performance and safety. Safilo is the first eyewear player to introduce this renewable material in its product offer. Eastman Acetate Renew is composed of 43% bio-based and 27% certified recycled content: makes it possible to maintain the technical and aesthetic qualities of traditional acetates but with the advantage of environmental sustainability. Eastman Tenite™ Renew is composed of 38% bio-based content and 20% recycled content. The resulting material offers the same premium feel and outstanding comfort of acetate with the additional unmatched fit adjustability that opticians need to create personalized eyewear fit. The recycled content is achieved by allocating the recycled waste plastic to Eastman Renew materials using a mass balance process certified by ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification). Produced via Eastman’s innovative Advanced Circular Recycling technologies – carbon renewal technology (CRT) and polyester renewal technology (PRT) – these new products are made from plastic waste and, as such, reduce consumption of fossil resources, and have significantly lower greenhouse gas footprints than traditional eyewear materials.

In 2021 Safilo is building on its 20-year partnership with specialty chemicals world leader Evonik to use their newest high-quality material TROGAMID® myCX eCO for premium sun lenses. This innovative, transparent polyamide will enable Safilo to increase the sustainability of its products across its wide brand portfolio. Safilo will debut sun lenses made of TROGAMID® myCX eCO in January 2022 with the BOSS Spring Summer collection. This high-performance polymer will be progressively rolled out across Safilo’s portfolio, especially in its Made in Italy brands, further asserting the Company’s commitment to sustainability and its efforts to bring more recycled materials to the eyewear industry. TROGAMID® myCX eCO is a sustainable high-performance crystal-clear polymer made from 40% biomass and 100% renewable energy, which results in a 50 percent lower carbon footprint. It offers a transparency of more than 90%, outstanding mechanical properties, resistance to stress cracking and breakage, thus also ensuring long durability and high safety of premium sun lenses or high-quality visors for ski and snowboard goggles, as well as excellent wearing comfort due to its low weight. Safilo will be the first eyewear player to introduce this material – specially optimized for the optics industry – in one of its licensed brands.

We signed a strategic partnership with Coventya, a global player with more than ninety years of experience in the development of specialty chemicals for surface finishing treatments. Safilo will be the first player in the eyewear sector to exclusively use ‘Metal X’, a new innovative Coventya patent that allows the use of precious metals in galvanic treatments for the production of optical frames and sunglasses to be reduced by 90%.

Eliminating the use of nickel, a silver-white metal traditionally used in galvanic finishing treatments for eyewear, was an important milestone that confirms our commitment to finding innovative and environmentally friendly solutions that protect both the people who work with us and those who choose our eyewear, as well as the environment. Nickel-free treatments have been implemented across all production lines and comply with all our quality standards, often stricter than the current legislation requires.

The idea of contributing to the health of our planet and giving new life to plastic waste from the oceans is a reason to proudly wear our recycled plastic sunglasses made exclusively for The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit organisation set up to develop advanced technologies for removing plastic waste from the oceans. 100% of the proceeds go to the continuation of the clean-up mission.

The Ocean Cleanup products are made of injected plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) thanks to an innovative upcycling process that reuses heterogeneous plastics that are traditionally more difficult to recycle, turning them into safe, high-quality materials. A unique QR code inside the glasses explains more about the product and The Ocean Cleanup project. Each pair of sunglasses is estimated to enable cleaning an equivalent of 24 football fields worth of the GPGP and the entire limited edition will equate to approximately 500,000 football fields of clean-up in the GPGP.

We carefully select our suppliers, assessing their environmental choices, to ensuring reliability and sustainability throughout our supply chain. Our Corporate Responsible Sourcing Supplier Manual allows us to manage responsibly our suppliers and business partners, ensuring that they comply with international standards and share our values. Through regular supplier audits, we also check their certifications and their ability to reduce environmental impact. Each audit assessed both social and environmental aspects for each supplier.