Italian premium acetate manufacturer Mazzucchelli 1849 has partnered with global specialty plastics provider Eastman to offer sustainable acetate options to its eyewear clients.   

Mazzucchelli will produce and sell acetate sheets made from Eastman Acetate Renew, a cellulose diacetate composed of 60% bio-based and 40% certified recycled content. 

"Eastman Acetate Renew allows us to offer sustainable options to our customers," said Mazzucchelli’s president Giovanni Orsi. "Using Acetate Renew requires no performance sacrifice, meaning we can use it in our full-range of premium designs.”  

As well as being made from bio-based and recycled content, Acetate Renew’s carbon renewal production process generates significantly less greenhouse gases compared with traditional manufacturing processes, said Eastman’s vice-president Scott Ballard.  

Mazzucchelli is already providing acetate scrap and Eastman will soon begin collecting and recycling scrap at scale from eyewear manufacturers for conversion into the new material, said Ballard, “creating a true closed loop for the eyewear industry.”  

Acetate Renew will be certified through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) process and should be commercially available by the middle of the year, said Mazzucchelli.