A climate ranking of the 11 largest UK opticians chains

Edward Lander looks at carbon reporting practices and explains how Vision Express lost its best in sector climate ranking after a takeover by the world’s biggest optician

January 2023

Ethical Consumer launched its new carbon management and reporting rating system in 2020 to encourage corporations to make changes to their climate change policies by showing them how their environmental measures compare with industry rivals. The research also guides consumers in their own choices.

In February 2022 we investigated the steps UK opticians were taking to address the climate emergency as part of our wider Carbon Ranking Research Project.

The research analysed whether eleven companies disclosed emissions at all stages of the production and transportation process.

We also looked for evidence that companies had introduced climate policies to minimise emissions from buildings, optimise transportation, and utilise green electricity and sustainable materials.

We found encouraging initiatives to offer sustainable products and recycle old contact lenses at even some of the worst ranking opticians in our list. However, we thought that these would have a limited impact on the industry’s carbon footprint.

Our carbon rating system

Our carbon rating system looks for publicly available data which shows that companies:

(a) have set targets for carbon reduction in line with international agreements

(b) are reporting annually on what their emissions actually are, and

(c) have a plausible plan for how they meet the targets, including reporting on measures they’ve already taken

(d) are not involved in any particularly damaging sectors such as fossil fuels.

Each company researched received an Ethical Consumer rating of best, middle or worst for carbon management and reporting. The results are summarised in the table below. Detailed explanations of the rankings for each company appear in the full report.

Carbon management and reporting ratings for opticians

* Figure for GrandVision, which has since been acquired by EssilorLuxottica
† Converted from domicile currency to GBP on XE.com
‡  Figure for EssilorLuxottica
§ Latest figure on D&B Hoovers website – no accounting year provided. Converted from USD to GBP on XE.com
Δ FY2019

Main findings into opticians and carbon emissions

The table shows that eight of the eleven companies we analysed received our worst rating for carbon management and reporting.

Only three companies in the multi-billion pound industry met the basic criteria needed to secure a middle rating.

With few new companies joining the industry, sustainability improvements are being led by opticians that are owned by corporations with a strong health or eye care presence, such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, EssilorLuxottica and GrandVision.  

Other leading operators in the sector are part of generalist corporations – ASDA Opticians and Costco Opticians – that make no mention of carbon reduction policies which specifically relate to opticians. They therefore shared the lowest rankings with their independent rivals Duncan & Todd, Leightons, Optical Express, Scrivens and Specsavers.

While the larger independent chains Optical Express and Specsavers make statements about minimising their carbon footprints, neither company has published its carbon emissions data or set carbon reductions targets in line with international agreements.

Focus on EssilorLuxottica (ultimate parent company of Vision Express and David Clulow)

David Clulow was rated under the carbon reporting of EssilorLuxottica, the largest eyewear company in the world. This helped the company to secure a middle rating in our research alongside Boots Opticians.

EssilorLuxottica has piloted a number of groundbreaking waste reduction initiatives, including a project to reduce the size of semi-finished lenses.

But it did not meet our criteria for reporting Scope 3 emissions or discuss any targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with international goals, such as the Paris-Climate agreement.

Before the takeover of its parent company GrandVision by EssilorLuxotticca in July 2021, Vision Express was the top performer in the category, securing a best rating for its earlier carbon management reporting.

GrandVision's annual impact report included a number of measures to reduce its carbon emissions, including introducing more sustainable products; a “second-life programme to extend the life of its glasses”; improving energy efficiency, and using renewable energy across its stores; and optimising its supply chain in Asia. Alongside these industry specific strategies, the group was the only optician in the research to fully disclose its Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 emissions in line with our scoring criteria.

By improving its best practice standards, GrandVision could establish itself as a sustainability trailblazer, and inspire its rivals to introduce industry-focussed climate change measures. There is a risk however that GrandVision’s sustainability focus might be diluted under its new ownership.

Where next for UK opticians?

According to a 2022 NHS report, 69% of annual GHG emissions are travel-related in the similar sector of optometry practices. It added that other factors that contribute to the carbon footprint of the sector include: energy (14%), procurement (11%), waste (5%) and water (1%).

By encouraging UK opticians to position practices along public transport routes, ensure that production and retail are powered by renewable energy, minimise the carbon footprint of their products and packaging, and offer eyewear recycling schemes, these businesses can play their part in the transition to more sustainable societies that need to take place in the next 10 years.