November 15 is America Recycles Day. Bausch + Lomb announced its ONE by ONE Recycling and Biotrue Eye Care Recycling programs have collected a total of 94,119,275 units*, or 569,743 pounds, of used contact lenses, eye care and lens care materials in the U.S. That’s equivalent to the weight of roughly 690 polar bears1.
“Our unique recycling programs continue to be popular with environmentally conscious eye care professionals, patients and consumers,” said Amy Butler. Butler is vice president, Global Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability, Bausch + Lomb. “The collective success of these programs proves that simple acts can have a significant impact and create lasting habits.”
690 POLAR BEARS
Due to their small size and the type of plastic used to manufacture them, contact lenses, eye care and lens care materials aren’t efficiently processed in standard recycling facilities. They may inadvertently end up in landfills or waterways. In the U.S., an estimated six to 10 metric tons of contact lenses end up in wastewater each year. These materials can pollute aquatic environments and eventually impact the human food supply.
“Our practice has relied on Bausch + Lomb’s ONE by ONE Recycling and Biotrue Eye Care Recycling programs for years,” said Jennifer Tsai, OD, LINE OF SIGHT, New York, New York. “It’s rewarding to be a part of an initiative that aligns with our practice’s focus on sustainability.”
Bausch + Lomb has a similar contact lens recycling program in Canada called Every Contact Counts. A collaboration with TerraCycle®, a world leader in the collection and recycling of hard-to-recycle waste, makes all three programs possible.
Bausch + Lomb is committed to implementing, maintaining and enhancing sustainable business practices that support eye care professionals, patients, consumers, employees and communities around the world. Its impact initiatives are measured against several key environmental metrics called “FEWW” – fuel, energy, water and waste. Each Bausch + Lomb facility has annualized goals against these metrics to harness new opportunities and evolve in a sustainable way as it continues its mission of helping people see better to live better. Visit www.bausch.com/impact for more information.
About the ONE by ONE Recycling Program
The Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling program is the first and only contact lens recycling program in the United States. This program collects used contact lenses, top foils and opened plastic blister packs from any brand and is available to contact lens wearers and eye care professionals. To participate, contact lens wearers can bring their used contact lenses and packaging to official ONE by ONE eye care practice recycling locations, which collect the used materials in a custom recycling bin provided by Bausch + Lomb. Once the bin is filled, the optometry practice ships the materials using a Bausch + Lomb pre-paid shipping label to TerraCycle where it is cleaned and melted into hard plastic pellets that can be used to make new recycled products. To learn more about the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling program, visit www.BauschRecycles.com.
About the Biotrue Eye Care Recycling Program
The Bausch + Lomb Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program is the first and only eye care and lens 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 all Biotrue-branded eye drops 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. To learn more about the Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program, visit www.biotrue.com/terracycle/.
*Estimated based on weight.
References
- https://a-z-animals.com/blog/the-largest-polar-bear-weighted-as-much-a-fishing-boat-3-reasons-it-grew-so-large/
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