Have you heard of the "Every Contact Counts" program? It is a program for the recycling of contact lenses. Every year, more than 290 million contact lenses end up in Canadian landfills or waterways.
The Bausch + Lomb Every Contact Counts Recycling Program recycles contact lenses and packaging in an effort to reduce the amount of contact lens-related waste in landfills. This is the first contact lens recycling program in Canada, in partnership with TerraCycle, a world leader in hard-to-recycle waste recycling.
Municipal recycling centers do not offer contact lens recycling services. Due to the size of contact lenses and their packaging, these materials are sorted at recycling facilities and directed into a waste stream, contributing to the volume of waste in Canadian landfills.
Participating in the contact lens recycling program is simple because the Every Contact Counts recycling program is available at all IRIS stores across Canada. Simply bring your
contact lens-related waste to the IRIS store nearest you.
You can recycle:
- Contact lenses;
- Aluminum foil;
- Dry, open, plastic blister packs.
The staff at the IRIS locations will arrange for your contact lens waste to be sent to Bausch & Lomb's Every Contact Counts program.
What happens to contact lens waste?
Upon receipt, contact lenses and blister packs are sorted and cleaned. The metal layers of the blister packs are recycled separately, while the lenses and plastic components of the blister packs are melted down into plastic that can be remolded to create new products.
Your participation in the Every Contact Counts recycling program will benefit the environment by reducing the amount of waste going into landfills across the country. As a canadian contact lens wearer, this is your opportunity to do your part to help preserve our planet.
