Romanian upcycling project: sunglasses made of reused plastic

A team of students from Romania have developed a project reusing plastic for the making of sunglasses frames. The sunglasses are called Reglass and are the first local ones made of recycled plastic, Startupcafe.ro reported.

The project, called Ireuse, comes as only 3% of the total plastic waste is recycled in Romania, the initiators of the project say. Approximately 25 PET lids or 15 plastic cups go into the making of one pair of sunglasses frames. The frames are manufactured in a small workshop, with an injection molding machine. The lenses are produced by Rhein Vision in Romania and have UVA/UVB protection, and hardening and anti-reflective coating.

Reglass from Ireuse Studio on Vimeo.

Ireuse has also launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Startarium platform. Those who wish to support the project can contribute EUR 31 for a pair of casual glasses or EUR 35 for a pair of glasses that can be used for sport activities. For EUR 50, the team of the project will demonstrate how one can make their own glasses.

The crowdfunding campaign is open until May 13 and the team hopes to raise EUR 3,000. The start of production is planned for June and the sunglasses should reach the public in August.

(Photo: Ireuse Studio Facebook Page)