Bausch + Lomb Recycles More Than 41 Million Units of Contact Lens, Eye and Lens Care Materials Since 2016
Bausch + Lomb 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.
TerraCycle, a global pioneer in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, has partnered with the company to make the programs possible.
Through ONE by ONE Recycling program and the new Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program, Bausch + Lomb aims to help reduce the environmental footprint of these materials together 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,” Joe Gordon, U.S. president, Bausch + Lomb, said in a company news release.
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.
"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. Consumers who engage in this program can recycle all brands of single-dose eye drops, lens cases, and lens solution caps, as well as Biotrue Hydration Boost Lubricant eye drops multi-dose bottles.
Consumers can mail these items to TerraCycle using a pre-paid postage label once they have collected them. When the waste arrives at the TerraCycle facility, it is cleaned and melted into hard plastic pellets that can be recycled into new items.
About the ONE by ONE Recycling Program
Contact lens users can participate by bringing their used contact lenses and packaging to one of these practices, which collects the materials in a unique Bausch + Lomb recycling receptacle. Once the bin is full, the optometry practice will use a pre-paid shipping label to send the items to TerraCycle for proper recycling.
In the United States, the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling program is the first and only sponsored contact lens recycling program. Contact lens wearers and eye care professionals can participate in this award-winning program, which collects worn contact lenses, top foil, and opened plastic blister packs from any brand. More than 7,000 optometry offices have signed up to be official recycling centers for the program.
