Sustainability

The hidden footprint of optical

A pair of glasses travels a long way from raw material to the shop shelf: acetate and metal production, lens work, packaging, shipping, and the disposal of the pair it replaces. Every step spends energy and raw material.

What stays invisible does not change. This page sets out our sustainability commitments, where we have actually got to, and how we measure what we report.

2030 roadmap

Year	Commitment	Progress (end of 2025)
2024	Remove plastic from shipping packaging	Done — paper boxes, corn-starch fill
2025	Raise recycled-acetate share to 20%	30% of acetate frames (target exceeded)
2026	100% renewable electricity company-wide	78% (solar at 5 stores, renewable supply at the Tuzla lab)
2027	Halve water use in production	22% reduction so far (closed-loop polishing)
2028	All acetate frames recycled or bio-acetate	30% of acetate frames (on track)
2030	Measure and reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions	Building the measurement baseline; first inventory under way

Old-eyewear take-back

You can drop your old glasses at any OGELA OPTİK store — any brand, prescription or sunglasses, as long as the frame is sound. Every donated pair:

1. Is measured on a lensmeter and its prescription is recorded.
2. Is sterilised and repaired if needed.
3. Goes via Turkish Red Crescent and LCV Foundation to disaster zones, refugee camps and underserved regions.

By end of 2025 we have donated 18,247 pairs. Customers who donate are offered a thank-you discount on their next purchase, at the discretion of our store teams.

Packaging and shipping

• Shipping boxes: recycled paper card. No plastic tape — only water-based paper tape.
• Filler: corn-starch based. Suitable for industrial composting facilities; we do not claim it composts at home.
• Inserts: soy-based ink, digital invoice first (paper invoices only on corporate request).
• Eyewear cases: 75% recycled-PET woven fabric, no leather, no foam.

Production laboratory

We buy the electricity for our own laboratory in Tuzla, Istanbul on a renewable-source supply contract. Company-wide, renewable electricity was 78% at the end of 2025, with 100% targeted for 2026. Our lens-polishing lines run on a closed-loop water system: roughly 12,000 m³ saved a year.

Frame materials

30% of our acetate frames come from the Mazzucchelli 1849 Bio-M49 recycled-acetate range, with the same optical and tactile quality as conventional acetate. By 2028, every acetate frame will be either recycled or bio-based.

In our metal frames, 85% of the silver and nickel comes from reclaimed material.

Measurement and reporting

• Our environmental data: compiled each year and put through an internal audit.
• B Corp: we entered the assessment process in 2026; the outcome is not yet decided.
• CDP climate change programme: we reported for the first time in 2024 and scored B-.

Reporting and feedback

If you spot an inconsistency in our sustainability claims, please write to destek@OGELAoptik.com.tr. Our Sustainability Committee reviews every report and will come back to you.

Privacy notice for reporters

The name and contact details you send to destek@OGELAoptik.com.tr, together with the content of your report, are processed by OGELA OPTİK SAĞLIK ÜRÜNLERİ TİCARET A.Ş. as data controller, under Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK) and the GDPR, solely so that our Sustainability Committee can review and answer it.

• Retention: report records are kept for at most 2 years after the review closes.
• Sharing: your data is never shared with third parties for marketing purposes.
• Your rights: send access, rectification and erasure requests to kvkk@OGELAoptik.com.tr.

See our Privacy Policy for the full detail.