UK’s first contact lens recycling solution

Around 3.7 million people in the UK use contact lenses every single day. Considering that previously these lenses were not recyclable, a huge number of lenses were going into landfill.

Over 20% of people admit to flushing their lenses down the sink or toilet to dispose of them, so you can only imagine the issues this causes when proper disposal is not catered for.

Thankfully, now a new scheme has been launched to tackle and reduce plastic waste in landfill and oceans by providing a simple recycling alternative. It’s something that we support here at Rayda as it’s working to make our industry more sustainable for the future.

The scheme was created as a collaboration between medical manufacturers Johnson & Johnson Vision, and the recycling firm TerraCycle.

Customers are encouraged to drop their contact lenses, blister and foil packaging at various public drop off locations, most of which are currently at Boots Opticians as they have partnered with this new project.

After being collected from these drop off points, the materials will be recycled and turned into new products, including outdoor furniture.

It is eventually hoped that the scheme will boast over 1,000 drop off points, and if there is not one near you, you’ll be able to print off a postal label and have your courier pick your recyclable waste up for you.

The collection points will accept all brands of soft contact lenses, including disposable contact lenses and their packaging.

Research commissioned by Johnson & Johnson showed that more than two thirds of customers are confused about what household items are in fact recyclable, and the scheme aims to help the 77% of people who said they would like to recycle their contact lenses if possible achieve this goal, and share their passion of reducing environmental and landfill waste.

Sandra Rasche, of Johnson & Johnson Medical said “as a business, we are committed to doing our part to combat climate change, protect our planet’s natural resources and reduce waste, and this new UK recycling programme represents the next step in our company’s sustainability commitment.”

This is a great step for the plastic community and contributing to making the wonder of plastic a much more sustainable source for our world.

We think it’s brilliant to see other companies in our industry working towards making the plastic industry as a whole more sustainable. All of our products at Rayda can be recycled and most are made from recycled plastics.

Take a look at our previous blog posts for more plastic innovations, sustainability updates and general plastic news and information.