Warby Parker announced a new partnership with Eastman to pioneer a first-of-its-kind demo lens molecular recycling program.

One of the greatest environmental impacts within the eyewear industry is the lack of a recycling solution for demo lenses. With the 600 million frames produced annually industry-wide, this practice accounts for over 5,000 tonnes of waste per year globally. For years, Warby Parker has researched alternative materials for discarding the plastic alongside downstream solutions, all of which have fallen short due to quality and this type of plastic being incredibly difficult to break down.

Since the summer of 2021, discarded demo lenses from Warby Parker’s optical labs, located in Sloatsburg, NY, and Las Vegas, NV, have been sent to Eastman’s facility in Kingsport, TN, where Carbon Renewal Technology is used to break the lenses down to their molecular level. Once broken down, the molecules are reused as the building blocks to create Eastman Acetate Renew—an acetate exclusively supplied by Eastman that is 60% bio-based and 40% certified recycled content. The brand plans to begin incorporating Acetate Renew into some of its frames later this year.

As the only eyewear brand to recycle its demo lenses with Eastman while sourcing Acetate Renew for new eyewear, Warby Parker is making progress toward a circular solution and lowering the environmental impact of producing its frames.

“From day one, Warby Parker has set out to find innovative solutions to everyday problems—and along the way, we’ve taken a stakeholder-centric approach. We’re committed to evaluating how our operations impact our employees, customers, and the environment, and our partnership with Eastman exemplifies this commitment,” said Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker. “We hope that others in the eyewear industry will join us as we work towards solutions to lessen our impact on the planet and its people.”

“Warby Parker’s commitment to reduce the impact of their products on the environment has been evident throughout this project. Eastman appreciates their commitment to take action and change the status quo,” said Scott Ballard, Eastman’s vice president and general manager of specialty plastics. “The demo lens to Acetate Renew breakthrough is the first of what we expect to be many examples of Eastman customers leveraging our molecular recycling technologies to divert material from landfill and lower carbon emissions.”

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A new peer review paper affirms that CooperVision® MiSight® 1 day contact lenses provide myopia control for nearly all age-appropriate children. In the longest-running soft contact lens study among children, 90% of myopic eyes responded to MiSight® 1 day wear with a proportional treatment effect, meaning that younger and faster progressing children receive the maximum benefit. Evidence also indicated a sustained slowing of eye growth over time.

These findings are published in the March 2022 edition of Optometry and Vision Science, the peer review journal of the American Academy of Optometry. Long-Term Effect of Dual-Focus Contact Lenses on Myopia Progression in Children: A 6-year Multicenter Clinical Trial (Chamberlain P, et al.) is now available via Open Access.

The peer-reviewed six-year paper complements additional CooperVision research demonstrating that the lens slows the rate of myopia progression by an average of approximately 50% at all observed ages.

The data also support that it’s never too late to start treatment, as the lens halves myopia progression in older children as well. “Myopia is a disease that progresses over many years, so demonstrating sustained efficacy is critical,” said Paul Chamberlain, BSc (Hons), MCOptom, the study’s principal investigator and CooperVision Director of Research Programs.

The MiSight® 1 day study is the longest running soft contact lens clinical trial for myopia management in age-appropriate children.

Click HERE for the full press release.