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Recycling Contact Lenses and Their Packaging

In response to the August 2019 article by Drs. Karen K. Yeung and Robert Davis titled “The Environmental Impact of Contact Lens Waste,” I want to commend the authors for raising awareness about this important environmental issue. While the article is correct that “all of the waste related to contact lenses is now recyclable,” the chart on page 29, which categorizes the types of plastics used in contact lenses, bottles, and packaging, incorrectly states that contact lens materials are recyclable through municipal recycling programs.

As an active fitter of primarily daily disposable lenses, I have heard concern from patients about the waste associated with contact lenses. An incorrect assumption on my part, which many others share, was that you can recycle used lenses and their packaging (e.g., blister packs and top foils) in standard recycling bins.

However, I have since learned that even though these used contact lens materials are made from recyclable material (via the #5 polypropylene symbol), their small size can cause them to either contaminate other recyclable materials or get diverted to landfills when they are recycled through standard recycling bins. In fact, The Association of Plastic Recyclers states that the recycling industry’s standard screen size, which identifies and removes unrecyclable plastics, filters out materials that measure less than two inches in diameter (https://plasticsrecycling.org/200-apr-design-guide/quick-links/pla-tabs/834-dimensions ). This means that standard recycling facilities often fail to process these small items.

While this may be shocking, there is a program available in which eyecare practitioners and their patients can participate to prevent these materials from ending up in our environment: the Bausch + Lomb One by One Recycling program. This program, currently the only contact lens recycling program in the United States, is conducted in collaboration with TerraCycle, a global leader in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste. Used contact lens waste from any contact lens manufacturer is accepted through the program.

My practice participates in the program as part of our overall goal to become more environmentally responsible, and this has been embraced by both my patients and staff. We have several bins (provided by Bausch + Lomb) throughout the office that we fill with our own lenses, blister packs, and top foils used during the fitting process. We strongly encourage our patients to bring their used materials to recycle in our bins as well. These bins are separate from the municipal recycling bins that we have in our practice, which we use for recycling paper, water bottles, etc. Once the bins are full, we download the program’s free shipping label and ship all of the used items to TerraCycle, where they are processed.

Given the vast amount of plastic waste that is generated by contact lenses and lens packaging each year, it’s crucial for us all to understand the importance of recycling and the way in which we can properly recycle these used contact lens materials, especially because many patients are still unaware that their lenses can be recycled. It’s one way that we can together ensure that these materials don’t end up impacting us in the future.

Gina Wesley, OD, MS, Complete Eyecare of Medina, Medina, MN. Dr. Wesley has received remuneration and travel funding from Bausch + Lomb.

Response from Drs. Yeung and Davis

We thank Dr. Wesley for her comments regarding our August 2019 article. This is an important endeavor to preserve our environment for future generations. We can only reduce pollution by recycling contact lens blister packages and their foils as well as contact lens solution bottles. The contact lens blister packages have the number 5 recycle symbol, as noted in Dr. Wesley’s letter to the editor. This can be interpreted by consumers as a freely recyclable material. Dr. Wesley correctly points out that due to the filtering process at normal recycling plants, these small plastic blister packs cannot be sorted; they fall through and are not recycled. Only TerraCycle has created a process in which these contact lens materials can be correctly recycled.

Another option is to take the plastic blister packs and place them in a number 5 recyclable plastic bottle that can be recycled as one unit. The foils would need to be pulled from the blister pack to be recycled separately.

Contact lens blister packs are just one example of the need to educate consumers on how to properly recycle these products. Another example is plastic bottle caps that fall through the sorting process. It is recommended in some communities that bottles are recycled with the caps left on. By recycling these materials properly, they can be melted into plastic that can be remolded to make recycled products.

We want to thank Dr. Wesley for her statement to the editor, adding to the body of knowledge for recycling contact lenses and their related materials properly. CLS