Karün’s Fishing-Net Eyewear: Recycling Ocean Waste

What is Karün? An eyewear brand from Patagonia

The meaning of the name

The name Karün is said to mean “we are nature” in Mapudungun, the language of the indigenous Mapuche people of southern Chile. The brand positions itself as a company that makes high-quality eyewear from waste materials.

Design is done in Santiago, the capital of Chile, and the frames are reported to be produced at a factory in Italy. In short, it is a cross-border division of labor: materials from the Chilean coast, manufacturing at a specialist European factory.

The birth of the Ocean Collection

The brand’s turning point came in 2015. On the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter it unveiled the “Ocean Collection”, billed as the world’s first sunglasses made from 100% recycled fishing nets collected along the Chilean coast. According to the brand’s official blog, the campaign raised US$180,000 from about 1,300 backers in 20 countries, and about 1,800 pairs were sold in 30 days.

These figures are one example of consumer interest in products made from marine waste. However, they are numbers published by the brand and do not show post-sale results or environmental effects.

Why fishing nets matter so much in marine litter

The ghost gear problem

Fishing gear is meant to catch fish, so nets are made to tangle easily, resist cutting and last underwater. Once they leak into the sea, these very properties become a problem.

Discarded or lost fishing gear is called “ghost gear”; even without anyone operating it, it can keep entangling fish, seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals. Internationally, frameworks to tackle ghost gear have been established.

For details, see our article on ghost gear fishing.

Share of fishing nets in marine plastics

Karün explains that fishing nets account for about 10% of ocean pollution. However, such a share varies greatly depending on the baseline (weight or count, sea surface or seabed). Treat the figure as a rough guide and check the definition in primary sources.

Materials and the collection system

Materials used

The Ocean Collection is explained as using 100% recycled fishing nets collected along the Chilean coast. Other collections are said to use rope, nylon, recycled metal and ECONYL regenerated nylon. Because materials differ by collection, check the material label on the product page when buying.

• Discarded fishing nets (nylon, etc.)
• Rope and nylon
• Recycled metal (for metal frames)
• ECONYL regenerated nylon (collaboration products)
• Lenses: polycarbonate (described as recyclable)

The collector network

Karün is said to network more than 200 Patagonian residents as “Karün Collectors”. Collectors gather waste on beaches and natural areas near their homes and sell it directly to the brand, earning supplementary income.

The aim of this system is to advance environmental cleanup and local income generation at the same time. The brand calls this approach the “Karün Conscious Development Model”.

From production to your hands

How recycled plastic is made

Recovered nets contain much salt, sand, seaweed and metal fragments, so sorting and cleaning are key steps. After cleaning, the nets are crushed, melted and turned into pellets, a raw material usable in ordinary plastic processing such as injection molding.

Plastic products made from fishing nets extend beyond eyewear to skateboards, apparel and bags. According to the brand’s official blog, the Ocean Collection involved a collaboration with Bureo, a B Corp certified company that also recycles fishing nets.

Fishing net recycling is also progressing in Japan; see our article on products made from recycled fishing nets for domestic trends.

Production country and distance

With materials collected in Chile and production in Italy, some may worry about transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. The brand is reported to offset its operational emissions and be carbon neutral, but it is wise to check the specific calculation method and scope in official information before buying.

Thinking about traceability

Can we trace where it came from?

For recycled-material products, being able to trace where the material was collected, by whom, and at which factory it was processed is called “traceability”. Karün’s emphasis on direct dealings with collectors can be read as an intention to build trust on this traceability.

Information useful for tracing

• Collection area (country, region, shoreline, etc.)
• Collectors (individuals, groups, companies)
• Recycling process (operators of cleaning, shredding, pelletizing)
• Place of production (factory that molded the frames)
• Presence of third-party certification or audits

How much of this is disclosed differs by brand and product. It is important to understand separately what is disclosed and what is not.

What to check when choosing

Avoiding greenwashing

Some products that advertise environmental consideration improve their image with weakly grounded claims; this is called greenwashing. Even for recycled marine-material products, the words “ocean plastic” alone may not tell you whether it was recovered at sea or on land before reaching the sea.

What to consider before buying

Being made of recycled material does not necessarily mean it is good for the environment. The lowest impact comes from using what you already own for a long time. The basic order is to consider whether you need it, and if you buy, choose something that lasts.

For recycled-net products, our article on Patagonia’s NetPlus products is also a useful reference.

Circularity challenges seen in this case

Recycled products alone cannot keep up

Eyewear uses only a small amount of material per person, so the amount of netting usable per pair is limited. There is a big gap between the number of products sold and the amount of gear leaking into the sea, so recycling alone cannot solve the problem.

What matters is to use recycled products as “an opportunity to learn about the problem”. We need to think together with mechanisms to prevent gear loss, systems to support recovery, and the efforts of fishers.

Fishing gear challenges in Japan

In Japan too, proper disposal and recovery of fishing gear is an issue. Our article on extended producer responsibility for fishing gear offers an institutional perspective.

What we can do

Everyday actions

• Join beach cleanups (if you find washed-up fishing gear, contact the local authority or site manager)
• When choosing recycled-material products, check material labels and explanations
• Take fishing line and tackle home instead of leaving it behind
• Consider repairing, handing on or returning products you no longer use

The habit of reading information critically

A brand’s explanation is an important entry point for understanding its efforts. Beyond that, the habit of separating where the figures come from, whether a third party has confirmed them, and what is “fact” versus “the brand’s claim” will become ever more important.