23 October 2023, 11:00 (CEST)

“Glasses made from recycled materials are even more beautiful”

Nexeye introduces circular eyewear at Hans Anders, Direkt Optik and eyes + more

Optics retailgroup nexeye introduces Ciircle - a circular eyewear collection of frames made from old glasses and residual waste from new frame production. The collection forms part of nexeye’s ambition to make their business more sustainable. The complete Ciircle collection - consisting of 23 unisex frames - is available from today at opticians Hans Anders, Direkt Optik, and eyes + more. Or go to these opticians’ websites to view and try on the frames.

Ambition to make business operations more sustainable a step at a time

Karin van Braam, CBO at nexeye talks about the role sustainability plays at nexeye: “Nexeye wants good eye and hearing care is available for the next generations too. Sustainability of the production process plays a major role in this, besides the quality and affordability of our products. As a group, we are keen to help in making sure the world and society stay liveable. Not just because our customers expect it from us, but mainly because we genuinely believe that we can.”

Karin van Braam, CBO at nexeye

Ciircle, circular eyewear

When they visit factories, the nexeye category managers can see a growing commitment among suppliers to making the production process cleaner and more sustainable. Van Braam: “We continue to engage with them and look for more sustainable solutions together. For instance, we see residual waste released during frame production as an opportunity: this is high-quality material that is excellent for reuse. If we manage to take full advantage of these opportunities, we demonstrate that it is unnecessary to keep using new raw materials for our products. We started from the premise that glasses made from reused materials are even more beautiful, and entered into dialogue with a supplier who uses residual waste and old frames to produce new plastic frames. The result is the Ciircle brand and the collection, which we developed together.”

Van Braam is keen to hear customers’ reactions: “We think it’s interesting to see how our customers react to our collection. What’s more, it teaches us how used glasses are taken apart, how it is made into plastic granulate and then turned into a brand new frame. It gives us an understanding of the process, and that’s very valuable to us too”