At EnChroma, our mission has always been about helping people see the world more fully — vivid sunsets, green forests, the full spectrum of color that color blindness can hide. But seeing the world clearly also means caring for it, and few things deserve more of our attention right now than the health of our oceans.
That's why we're proud to announce our partnership with CleanHub, a Berlin-based environmental technology company on a mission to prevent plastic from ever reaching the sea. To help our community understand what this partnership means — and why it matters — we sat down for a Q&A covering what CleanHub does, how the partnership works, and how it connects to EnChroma's own values.
What is CleanHub?
CleanHub is an environmental technology company founded in 2020 that funds and verifies the collection of plastic waste in coastal and waterway communities where formal waste management doesn't yet exist. CleanHub partners with brands — like EnChroma — to fund the recovery of plastic waste, making sure it never washes into rivers and oceans.
CleanHub focuses much of its work on non-recyclable plastic — the flexible, multi-layer packaging that has no market value and is rarely collected on its own. Since it's estimated that a large share of ocean plastic comes from exactly this kind of waste, targeting it directly is one of the most effective ways to keep it out of the water in the first place.
How does CleanHub actually track the plastic it collects?
This is one of the things that sets CleanHub apart: transparency. Workers on the ground use a mobile app to log every collection — snapping photos, scanning QR codes, and recording GPS and weight data as waste moves from collection to sorting to final processing. That data creates a verifiable, real-time audit trail, which is independently verified to ISO standards by TÜV SÜD. In short: the plastic collection isn't just claimed, it's proven.
Where does CleanHub operate?
CleanHub runs collection networks primarily in coastal and river communities across Indonesia, India, Tanzania, Cambodia, and Guatemala — regions where plastic is most likely to enter waterways because formal waste infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. By working locally, CleanHub is also helping build lasting waste management systems and create fair jobs, particularly for women in these communities.
What happens to the plastic once it's collected?
Collected waste goes through three steps: collection, sorting, and processing. Recyclable materials are sorted and sent to local recycling markets. Non-recyclable plastics — the majority of what's collected — are sent for co-processing, where they're used as an alternative fuel source in industries like cement manufacturing, instead of ending up burned in the open or dumped in the environment.
Why did EnChroma choose to partner with CleanHub?
Our commitment to ocean protection was inspired in part by our collaboration with surf and lifestyle brand O'Neill, whose performance sunglasses bring EnChroma's color-enhancing lens technology to surf, sun and outdoor environments — the places where color is often at its most vivid. That collaboration also brought the threat of plastic pollution into sharp focus. This partnership extends our environmental commitment beyond the O'Neill collection to every order placed through our U.S. website.
“EnChroma helps people experience more of the color and beauty in the world around them, so it’s natural for us to play a part in protecting that world too. Our partnership with CleanHub turns every U.S. order into measurable action, helping recover plastic before it reaches the ocean while supporting communities that are building stronger local waste-management systems.”
— Chris Dykes, CEO of EnChroma
The honest fine print (because that's how we do things)
There is no denying that eyewear requires protective packaging, some of which currently contains plastic. We are working to reduce that material wherever possible — while also taking measurable responsibility for the plastic we continue to use.
What does this partnership actually fund?
Every order placed on EnChroma's U.S. website funds the recovery of 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of ocean-bound plastic, and EnChroma has committed to funding the recovery of 3,000 kilograms of plastic waste — supporting efforts across the globe.
For full visibility over the partnership and our progress, see our live impact report here.
Want to learn more about CleanHub's work? Visit cleanhub.com.
CleanHub's broader mission is to prevent 50% of new ocean plastic by 2030. EnChroma's verified plastic-recovery progress is tracked publicly at cleanhub.com/impact-report/enchroma.