Bausch + Lomb contact lens recycling programs are taking off

Canadian eye health product company Bausch + Lomb says that its One by One and Biotrue eye care recycling programs have now recycled a total of 41,358,603 million units, or 248,516 pounds, of used contact lens, eye and lens care materials.

The programs were developed through a collaboration between Laval, Que.-based Bausch + Lomb and recycler TerraCycle, and are designed to target contact lenses and other eye care materials – which typically are unrecyclable plastics – for recycling, instead of diversion to landfills.

“Used contact lenses, eye and lens care products and the materials associated with them are waste streams that are often overlooked in standard recycling practices, which can have a tremendous impact on the buildup of environmental waste,” said Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of Trenton, N.J.-based TerraCycle. “Participating in these unique recycling programs we have with Bausch + Lomb offer people the ability to help ensure their eye health-related materials are properly recycled and don’t end up in waterways and landfills.”

Since launching earlier this year, the Biotrue recycling program – which is said to be the first and only eye care recycling program in the U.S. – has collected more than 65,000 eye drop single dose units, lens cases and lens solution caps, as well as Biotrue lubricant eye drops multi-dose bottles. The One by One recycling program, meanwhile, has collected more than 41 million units of used contact lenses, top foils and blister packs since launching in 2016.