Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) has unveiled a groundbreaking technology that chemically recycles shavings and waste lenses produced during the manufacturing and processing of its MR-brand ophthalmic lens materials, enabling their repurposing back into MR ophthalmic lens materials. The company is also actively pursuing practical applications for this innovative technology.

Source: ChemengOnline

Ophthalmic lenses undergo several steps before reaching their final form, including molding by manufacturers, prescription processing, surfacing, edging, and fitting into frames at retail locations. Currently, most lens swarf and waste lenses generated throughout these processes are typically discarded.

With this new initiative, Mitsui Chemicals intends to recover lens swarf and waste lenses for chemical recycling using their advanced technology. This process allows the materials to be reused for MR ophthalmic lens materials while upholding the highest quality standards, which include transparency, strength, and more. Mitsui Chemicals aims to foster a circular economy by establishing a business model that encompasses the entire ophthalmic lens value chain.

As a leading manufacturer of ophthalmic lens materials, Mitsui Chemicals supplies lens manufacturers around the globe with a wide range of products, including the MR series of high-refractive-index lens materials.