Bausch + Lomb reports success with visionary recycling scheme

United States – Within a year of its launch, Bausch + Lomb’s ONE by ONE programme has led to the recycling of a combined total of more than a million used contact lenses, blister packs and top foils, the eye health specialist has revealed. The collaborative venture with TerraCycle, a specialist in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, ‘has diverted more than 7000 pounds of waste from landfills and has helped create new post-consumer products’, it adds.

Eye care professionals registered with the ONE by ONE scheme are provided with recycling bins so that patients can bring contact lens materials from home and the practice can collect lenses used within the office; all items are then sent to TerraCycle for recycling.

For every pound of waste accepted, a US$ 1 donation is made to Optometry Giving Sight – a fundraising initiative that targets prevention of blindness and impaired vision by providing eye exams and glasses to those in need.

Based at Trenton in the US state of New Jersey, TerraCycle’s other areas of activity include recycling cigarette waste and beach plastics.