Seeing clearly, now with environmental benefits

You Mawo, a producer of customised 3D printed eyewear and a customer of leading 3D printing technology company EOS teamed up with Fraunhofer EMI to analyse the environmental impact of producing eyewear using this technology.

While the benefits of 3D printed glasses for users were evident  - 30% lighter, the personalised frames provided more wearing comfort, were more durable and were reportedly more stable - both EOS and You Mawo sought to establish whether there were any sustainability advantages in using additive manufacturing technology to produce these products.

“The products adapt to the end consumer, not the other way around as with traditional frames,” Sebastian Zenetti, Managing Director and Head of Sales at You Mawo.

But are they more sustainable as well?

According to Björn Hannappel, Head of Sustainability at EOS, additive manufacturing ‘allows us to build like nature does - layer by layer - and in doing so additive manufacturing is sustainable by design’. The company was eager to conduct a study to establish just how well the technology performed when measured against conventional production methods. “For the study, we were looking for an independent institute. The Fraunhofer Institute is very credible…has lots of experience, which is why we approached them,” explained Hannappel. “Fraunhofer EMI was immediately enthusiastic and said yes.”

In the study, the environmental impact of additively and conventionally manufactured eyewear was compared, covering the life cycle from material sourcing, to production to packaging and shipping - in other words, from cradle-to-grave, excluding the use phase. The study also included a hotspot analysis to identify major contributors and potential for improvement, including powder refresh rates, powder feedstock, and energy sources used.

It was found that 3D printed eyewear performs significantly better than conventional eyewear in all 18 impact categories, such as climate change, human toxicity, ozone depletion, and water depletion. The carbon footprint , for example, of a customised, 3D printed You Mawo eyewear product is some 58 percent lower compared to conventionally manufactured eyewear, generates 80% less waste during production versus conventionally manufactured acetate eyewear, and can help to avoid lengthy post processing.

It was a result that surprised even the Fraunhofer team - “But in a positive way,” said Sebastian Kilchert, Research Associate at Fraunhofer EMI. “We expected a similar environmental impact compared to the investigated conventional manufacturing scenario but learned that additive manufacturing performed much better and had roughly only one third of the environmental impact.”

There was also room for improvement, the study revealed:  the powder refresh rate could be further reduced, powders with a lower footprint (e.g., bio-based) could be developed and less expensive packaging used.

Since 2021, You Mawo has been producing and assembling its products in Germany only.  Its locations are all powered with renewable energy.

“Together with EOS, we are creating the future of custom-made, 3D printed eyewear,” said Zanetti. “As the technology enables the design and manufacturing of highly individualised eyewear, it also helps us to avoid overproduction, minimize supply chains and enable on demand production.”

To which Hannappel added: “We are shaping the future of responsible manufacturing. Our goal and purpose are to combine pioneering digital innovation in industrial 3D printing and sustainable practices. The LCA we just conducted supports this approach.