We all start somewhere
You will never know how much you can do to contribute. When we started with contact lens recycling at CORE through Terracycle, we wouldn’t have imagined to have recycled more than 150 lbs of contact lenses, blister packs and foils in just 3 years. And this is not just from study-related contact lens waste – our participants have welcomed the opportunity to recycle their own lens waste at CORE as well.
Seeing Clearly
Do your patients know they can recycle their contact lens waste? No?
To help you with educating your patients on a more sustainable way to dispose of your contact lens products, we have developed infographics for reusable and daily disposable contact lenses, available for Canada, the UK and the USA.
Let’s look at the numbers1
64%
of daily disposable contact lens waste by mass was plastic blister trays
67%
of reusable contact lens waste by mass was plastics, mostly from solution bottles
1 Smith SL, Orsborn GN, Sulley A, et al.
Download country-based infographics
Frequently Asked Questions
My patient has questions about recycling of their contact lens waste. Where can I find info?
Depending on their wear modality, they may be able recycle everything (daily disposable wearers) or almost 80% (reusable wearers). You could even help them to do so if you add a recycling bin to your office set up. Click on the learn more button above to head over to a more detailed summary on how recycling works.
Can my patient recycle their reusable lens case?
It is possible to recycle lens cases via one of the established recycling programs such as Terracycle. To get access to specialized recycling bins, visit our recycling site to see whether there are some programs available near you or visit our summary page to learn more about contact lens recycling.
How can I get a contact lens recycling bin into my office?
A number of contact lens waste recycling programs exist around the globe. Visit our recycling site to see whether there are some programs available near you.
Resources
Bringing Sustainability Into Focus: The Case for Contact Lens Recycling (Eye & Contact Lens)
Bhatnagar P, Devireddy N, Tharp M, Chen SP. Bringing Sustainability Into Focus: The Case for Contact Lens Recycling. Eye Contact Lens. 2024 Dec 1;50(12):527-528
An investigation into disposal and recycling options for daily disposable and monthly replacement soft contact lens modalities (Contact Lens Anterior Eye)
Smith SL, Orsborn GN, Sulley A, et al. An investigation into disposal and recycling options for daily disposable and monthly replacement soft contact lens modalities. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2022;45(2):101435.
Addressing core questions about sustainability (Optician)
Ng A, Jones L. CLs: Addressing core questions about sustainability. Optician 2023 (April).
Daily disposable versus reusable contact lenses: a close match when it comes to the impact on the environment (Contact Lens Anterior Eye)
Routhier J, Freitas MD, Hickson-Curran S. Daily disposable versus reusable contact lenses: a close match when it comes to the impact on the environment. Cont Lens Anterior Eye 2012;35:e2.