Bausch + Lomb helps patients recycle contacts

Issue: December 2016

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Bausch + Lomb announced the launch of its #ONEbyONE program, which facilitates recycling of any of the company’s contact lenses and blister packs.

TerraCycle, a company that collects and repurposes hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, is Bausch + Lomb’s partner in the effort.

The program encourages “consumers to help preserve the environment by taking one action at a time, to one day achieve a greener future where even your contact lenses play a role,” the company said in a press release.

Brian Rosenblatt, OD, director of professional strategy, U.S. Vision Care, Bausch + Lomb, told Primary Care Optometry News here at the American Academy of Optometry meeting, “A lot of patients don’t want to be in daily disposables because of the waste. We’re partnering with the community as well as the earth.”

He noted that for every pound of material recycled, Bausch + Lomb will donate $1 to Optometry Giving Sight.

Bausch + Lomb’s senior manager of corporate communications, Kristy Marks, told PCON that contact lenses are recyclable, but they cannot be tossed in a traditional recycling can. As part of the #ONEbyONE program, special recycling boxes will be placed in doctors’ offices, or patients can download shipping labels to send their used contact lenses and blister packs for recycling.

Bausch + Lomb’s head of marketing, Vision Care, Guy Guglielmino, said in the press release, “Bausch + Lomb is not only committed to providing patients with innovative vision care, but to practicing good stewardship within our business practices. This includes working closely with companies, such as TerraCycle, who is making progress in the areas of recycling, reusing and reducing waste and energy consumption in hopes to better preserve our environment for future generations.” – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO

Disclosures: Guglielmino, Marks and Rosenblatt are employed by Bausch + Lomb.