A new material with a reduced carbon footprint

ZEISS Sunlens was very meticulous and wanted the entire production chain to be certified to REDcert² standards (scheme principles for the certification of sustainable material flows for the chemical industry). The mass balanced product offers a sustainable polyamide lens with verified use of bio-based material and emissions reduction.

To manage the bio-based material, ZEISS Sunlens uses mass balance, where bio-based materials and standard fossil-based materials are handled through the same production instead of being separated.

The mass balance process means that bio-based materials and standard fossil-based materials are used in the same production process instead of being separated in two different production plants. The usage of bio-based material is accounted for and balanced through a system of verification and certification.

From the raw material to the finished lens there are many manufacturing steps and many resources are used. Now the whole chain is certified according to REDcert² standard, to offer a truly sustainable polyamide lens. This is one of the few European sustainability certification systems that can verify all stages.

REDcert² utilizes the mass balance approach: this accounting method ensures that the sustainable bio-based raw materials are blended in upstream facilities with fossil-based raw materials. They are then allocated downstream exclusively to the production of plano sun lenses following the principle of verified volumes in every step of the value chain.