For some years now, Mido has pursued the objectives of sustainability and company transparency. This commitment led to it being awarded ISO 20121:2012 certification, an international standard attesting to sustainable management of large events.
In fact, the Milan fair considers the reduction of environmental and social impact not only to be a simple necessity but a real duty; at the same time, MIDO also sees it as a duty to increase awareness by exhibitors, suppliers and visitors, sensitising and transforming them into sustainability ambassadors.
Among the activities introduced in this perspective, this year sees the arrival of the “zero” edition of the CSE AWARD - Certified Sustainable Eyewear 2023, an award created by MIDO in partnership with ANFAO and Certottica which assesses levels of sustainability in the international eyewear industry. An expert panel of judges evaluated the products that were entered in the contest, using specific criteria regarding their environmental and social impact and taking into account the entire life cycle of the product: recycling of materials, reduction of consumption in the manufacturing and distribution processes, enhancement of the supply chain, elimination of waste, level of recyclability, use of renewable energy sources, etc.
Six categories were judged: Sunglasses Europe,?Sunglasses Rest of the World, Frames Europe, Frames Rest of the World, Cases Europe and Cases Rest of the World.
Today we meet the winner of the CSE Award Sunglasses Europe: Neubau.
The spokesperson is Daniel Liktor, Managing Director of the company.Did you expect this award?
Not really which makes us even happier that we won the award. Receiving recognition for our sustainability efforts is one thing but making sustainability a prominent topic in our industry is ultimately what we would like to achieve with our vision.
Would you tell us about the winning Romy model?
Romy belongs to our natural3D-portfolio and is part of the exclusive Special Edition “Côte du Soleil”. Natural3D is a 100% plant-based polymer made from non- genetically modified castor oil beans and further processed using innovative 3D- printing technology. Not only are we using renewable sources for these frames but producing this frame will also result in no to very little waste, making Romy the most sustainable sunglasses in Europe.
What were the reasons why you won?
When asking the jury of experts why they chose Neubau, they mentioned our carbon neutral production facility, our handmade products, and the use of innovative and sustainable materials. I think, we ultimately received this award because we never stopped exploring to turn our vision into reality. That means finding new sustainable solutions as an alternative to traditional methods being used. Receiving recognition for this makes us even more motivated for the future.
How much does this award reflect your philosophy?
We are operating on a sustainable brand philosophy, so the award reflects perfectly what we stand for. With Neubau, we want to prove that sustainability, quality, and design goes hand in hand.
How is your commitment to sustainability realized on a daily basis?
Using plant-based, easy to recycle or durable materials in our local and carbon- neutral production is only part of our sustainability efforts. We have implemented sustainability in our daily work such as only working with partners that follow our code of conduct or using sustainable materials for our by-products and marketing materials. The most important part, however, is being transparent and honest about ?our progress. We are always trying to source alternative, more sustainable methods to create premium eyewear which determines our daily work.
What will be your future steps under the banner of sustainability?
Receiving the certification for our production facility as carbon-neutral and introducing sustainable acetate as part of our production portfolio are our most recent milestones. Those were big steps we took that involved a lot of time, effort, and research. Now, we are working on smaller and bigger projects that are still in early stages. We will keep you updated.