Did you know you can recycle your contact lenses?

Until recently contact lenses couldn’t be recycled, with the wearer only able to throw them in the bin resulting in them ending up in landfill and our oceans. However, thanks to Acuvue teaming up with TerraCycle it is now possible to recycle soft contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers.

Over recent years there has been a huge push on sustainable living and reducing plastic waste in any way we can by recycling packing and waste, reducing the use of single use plastics, using environmentally friendly packaging and so much more.

Recycling your contact lenses couldn’t be easier. Our Hessle branch is a designated contact lens recycling drop off point. Once you have collected your contact lenses and packaging up you can drop it off with our team at Hessle. Once we have a full collection box, the waste is then boxed up and sent to TerraCycle. When they reach TerraCycle they are analysed to determine how they will be broken down to be recycled into a new material. The waste is then sorted and cleaned, with plastic waste being melted and reformatted into pellets, flakes, or powder to be reused. After waste is turned into the raw materials, it is sold to manufacturing companies who then produce the end product completing the recycling journey. The products often include outdoor furniture, decking, flooring tiles, storage containers and much more!

Not only is the scheme helping to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill and our environment, TerraCycle are also doing their bit for charity. For every box of contact lens waste, we send to them, we are rewarded TerraCycle points which can then be redeemed as a cash donation to a charity or school of our choice.

The cardboard outer packaging and solutions bottles cannot be recycled with TerraCycle, however these should be able to go in your household recycling bin. Check with your local council, and the packaging itself to make sure it can be recycled.

For more information about our contact lens recycling, speak to a member of our team today.