Valuable Waste

Normally, when glasses are produced from virgin acetate, approximately 75% of the raw material goes to waste. The acetate that isn’t used ends up on factory floors and is considered useless. EOE takes care of this waste and makes it into new frames. Simply because it can be done.

Regrind

When Erik Lindmark (co-founder of EOE Eyewear) in the early years of EOE visited optical stores throughout Sweden, he noticed that their drawers were full of frames that had never been sold. At the same time, consumers had no way of getting rid of their used frames in a satisfying way. Sooner or later, they simply ended up in the trash. Each year, about three billion frames are sold globally. It was easy to see there was a problem to solve here.

EOE initiated a collaboration with different partners and could soon offer stations where the customers could return their used eyewear. Together with researchers in northern Sweden, Erik and Emilia set out to develop a process and a product that could create a new acetate material and new frames, made from old eyewear. Through this process, up to 98% of an old frame is recycled. Today, thousands of frames are collected each month and sorted into different color and quality schemes.

Read more on regrind.se

Friendly Acetate

The acetate used in all EOE frames is made out of a mix of wood and cotton pulp. The process for the making of the cellulose acetate includes the treatment of two different fibers; seeds (cotton) and wood (from conifer and broadleaf deciduous trees).

Both wood and cotton are renewable resources and available and easily accessible in our very surrounding nature. What separates the EOE biodegradable acetate from the acetate that is normally used for eyewear, is foremost that it doesn’t contain any petroleum or phthalates – which are considered to be so poisonous it’s even forbidden in the production of toys and children’s products.

Recycled Steel

Steel is one of the most naturally sustainable materials we have. It can be used time and time again without losing any quality or strength. Since Sweden is a country very rich in steel, it’s only natural that EOE uses Swedish and mainly recycled steel in all metal frames.

The steel used in EOE frames (AISI301) comes from Sandvik industries.

Titanium

Titanium possesses numerous beneficial properties. It is a material that is durable, very flexible and exceptionally light-weight, making it ideal for comfort. The Beta-Titanium used in EOE frames is the only non-recycled material in EOE frames as of today, but remains sustainable due to its long life span.

The ambition is crystal clear, to become world-leading in what is often called ”local made global.”

”Sweden has so much of the raw materials we use, and it just feels like a given to turn to materials we know that we can keep delivering and at the same time are in complete harmony with nature.”

Reindeer Antler

The reindeer antlers used in EOE-frames comes from reindeer in Swedish Lapland.

Each year, reindeer loose their antlers and grow new ones, thus the use of antlers is both ethical and fully sustainable.

The antlers used in EOE frames come from reindeer that have grazed on calcareous ground – which makes the material strong enough to be processed and incorporated as details in selected frames.

 

Stone

In Lannavaara outside of Kiruna, in the very northern parts of Sweden, the stones used in EOE frames are collected. The snow quarts are picked by hand right after it’s been raining, when it’s easier to see their colors. The grinding of the stones is done with natural water and the wastewater is used, for example as a fertilizer.

Wood

Emilia and Erik Lindmark are both from the city of Umeå, which is also nicknamed the City of Birches (within the central part of the city there are about 3000 birches alone). Therefore, it is birch wood from Northern Sweden within some of EOE’s frames.

Gold

It is known that many left Sweden for America during the 19th century, to find gold. If only they had known what was hidden in the far north of Sweden.

The gold which is used in EOE’s Eternity collection has been handled and processed in Lannavaara, a small village outside of Kiruna.

Gold is a material with eternal life, since it doesn't loose quality and can be melted down and repurposed - Over and over again.