Recycling : Bausch + Lomb recycled 41 million units of contact lens, eye and lens care material
Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health business of Bausch Health Companies Inc. ("Bausch Health"), announced its exclusive ONE by ONE and Biotrue® Eye Care Recycling programs have recycled a total of 41,358,603 million units, or 248,516 pounds, of used contact lens, eye and lens care materials. The programs are made possible through a collaboration with TerraCycle®, a world leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste.
"An integral part of our commitment to helping people see better to live better is our focus on sustainability," said Joe Gordon, U.S. president, Bausch + Lomb. "With our ONE by ONE Recycling program and the new Biotrue® Eye Care Recycling program, we have greatly expanded the ways we can help reduce the environmental footprint of these materials in conjunction with eye care professionals, patients and consumers all across the United States. We're incredibly proud of the significant impact these programs have made to date, for the ongoing collaboration we have with TerraCycle, and we look forward to building upon them for years to come."
According to The Association of Plastic Recyclers, the industry standard screen size, which identifies and removes unrecyclable plastics, filters out small-sized materials as part of the recycling process. Standard recycling facilities also only accept certain types of plastic. As a result, contact lens, eye and lens care materials don't typically end up getting processed and are diverted 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, 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 company's Biotrue® Eye Care Recycling program, which is the first and only eye care recycling program in the United States, has collected more than 65,000 eye drop single dose units, lens cases and lens solution caps, as well as Biotrue® Hydration Boost Lubricant eye drops multi-dose bottles. The ONE by ONE Recycling program collected more than 41 million units of used contact lenses, top foils and blister packs since launching in 2016.
About the Biotrue® Eye Care Recycling Program
The Bausch + Lomb Biotrue® Eye Care Recycling program is the first and only eye care recycling program in the United States. This program allows consumers who participate to properly recycle all brands of their eye drop single dose units, lens cases and lens solution caps*, as well as Biotrue® Hydration Boost Lubricant eye drops multi-dose bottles. Once consumers collect these items, they can be mailed to TerraCycle using a pre-paid shipping label. When the waste arrives at the TerraCycle facility, it is cleaned and melted into hard plastic pellets that can be used to make new recycled products.
About the ONE by ONE Recycling Program
The Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling program is the first and only sponsored contact lens recycling program in the United States. This award-winning program collects used contact lenses, top foil and opened plastic blister packs from any brand and is available to contact lens wearers and eye care professionals. More than 7,000 eye care practices are registered as official recycling centers of the program. To participate, contact lens wearers can bring their used contact lenses and packaging to one of these practices, which collects the used lens materials in a custom recycling bin provided by Bausch + Lomb. Once the bin is filled, the optometry practice will ship the materials to TerraCycle for proper recycling using a pre-paid shipping label.