FGX to scale up use of Eastman Tritan™ Renew on start-up of new methanolysis plant

KINGSPORT, Tenn., and SMITHFIELD, R.I.

Eastman, a global specialty materials company, and FGX International, an EssilorLuxottica company, have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for FGX to reserve a significant volume of Eastman Tritan Renew copolyester manufactured at Eastman’s new methanolysis plant, which will be operational this year. The LOI builds on FGX’s introduction in January 2022 of frames made from Tritan Renew, a high-performance copolyester made with 50% recycled content.*

Located in Kingsport, Eastman’s new facility will produce material — including Tritan Renew — using polyester renewal technology, one of Eastman’s innovative molecular recycling technologies. The technology breaks down hard-to-recycle material to their fundamental building blocks and produces new material with high levels of recycled content and no compromise on quality. When operational, the plant will use up to 100,000 metric tons of plastic waste as feedstock and be the world’s largest material-to-material molecular recycling facility.

“We are seeing rapid adoption of frames made with Tritan Renew from retailers and consumers due to the unique combination of sustainability and performance,” said Salvatore Mauceri, President, sun and readers division, EssilorLuxottica. “We are excited to secure enough material from Eastman’s new plant to significantly and rapidly scale up our production of Tritan Renew as part of our Foster Grant® collections and to meet the growing consumer demand for innovative, eco-friendly eyewear.”

With its commitment to scale up the production of frames made with Tritan Renew, FGX becomes the first in the eyewear industry to leverage output from Eastman’s new molecular recycling facility. FGX first adopted Tritan Renew in its iconic Foster Grant collection in January 2022. The reserved volume will enable FGX to switch all Foster Grant plastic eyewear to Tritan Renew over the next few years as well as introduce Tritan Renew in many of its other world-famous brands.

“We are proud to expand our partnership with FGX,” said Glenn Goldman, commercial director, Eastman plastics division. “With this commitment, FGX is once again demonstrating its leadership on sustainability, and we are excited to work with them to scale up their use of Tritan Renew as our new molecular recycling facility becomes operational.”

*Recycled content allocated via ISSC-certified mass balance approach

About FGX International

FGX International, an EssilorLuxottica company, is a leading designer and marketer of nonprescription reading glasses, optical frames, and sunglasses with a portfolio of established, highly recognized eyewear brands and e-commerce channels including Foster Grant®. For more information, visit fgxi.com