(PRESS RELEASE) PADUA — Safilo, a leader in the design, manufacturing and distribution of eyewear, announces the introduction of Eastman Acetate Renew and Eastman Tritan Renew in its sunglass and optical products. Both products are part of a broad portfolio of sustainable resins now offered at scale by Eastman, a global specialty materials provider and pioneer in molecular recycling. They enable Safilo to increase the sustainability of its products across its wide brand portfolio.
Safilo will debut Eastman Tritan Renew with its proprietary brand Polaroid in January 2022. The two innovative materials will be progressively rolled out across Safilo’s broad brand portfolio, both for sun and for optical frames, further asserting the Company’s business commitment to sustainability and its efforts to bring more recycled materials to the eyewear industry.
“It is so important nowadays to act responsibly and to consider the social and environmental impacts of our business,” — declared Angelo Trocchia, CEO of Safilo Group. “We are committed to leading the way in our approach to our products and packaging without using new resources and without compromising the quality of our frames, thereby continuing to offer the same level of impeccable quality. Our intention is to expand the use of sustainable materials as much as possible in order to progress in our sustainability journey.”
“By using both Eastman Tritan Renew and Eastman Acetate Renew, Safilo can provide their consumers and their licensors with a variety of differentiated options that meet their high standards for both design and sustainability” — said Glenn Goldman, commercial director, Eastman Specialty Plastics. “We are proud to work with Safilo as they make these bold steps and deliver on their commitment to a more sustainable future.”
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 will be the first eyewear player to introduce this renewable material in its product offer. Eastman Acetate Renew is composed of 60% bio-based and 40% certified recycled content. The resulting material is identical in performance to traditional acetate, meaning it can give the same premium “look and feel” to eyewear that wearers expect from traditional acetate.
Produced via Eastman’s innovative Advanced Circular Recycling technologies – carbon renewal technology (CRT) and polyester renewal technology (PRT) — these new products are made from waste plastic and, as such, reduce consumption of fossil resources, and have significantly lower greenhouse gas footprints than traditional eyewear materials.
In 2020, Safilo also introduced Econyl regenerated nylon in its eyewear collections, starting with the Tommy Jeans line, thanks to a pioneering partnership with Aquafil, a well-known global player that produces polymers and synthetic fibers. Also in 2020, Safilo developed the first eyewear style made with ocean waste plastic for The Ocean Cleanup, the recognized Dutch non-profit environmental organization, with injected plastic deriving from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).
The recycled content is achieved by allocating the recycled waste plastic to Eastman Renew materials using a mass balance process certified by ISCC.