Technology in contact lenses has shifted towards more frequent lens disposal – the advent of daily replacement lenses has provided major breakthroughs in convenience, health, and comfort. However, it’s also created a lot more packaging and environmental waste. Every year, 290+ million contact lenses end up in Canadian landfills or waterways. The lenses themselves, as well as the “blister packs” they are stored in, are not recyclable through municipal programs.
Bausch and Lomb, in partnership with TerraCycle, a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle waste, has created Canada’s first contact lens recycling program – “Every Contact Counts” – to reduce landfill waste and keep microplastics out of our waterways. The Every Contact Counts program is now operational at both MVO locations!
Here’s how it works:
- Bring your used contact lenses, dried plastic blister packs, and foil tops to our Calgary or Cochrane office location (see picture)
- Drop them in to the Every Contact Counts bin located near our front entrance
- Any brand of contact lens is accepted at no charge
- Please recycle the cardboard boxes which are accepted through your municipal recycling program
- Feel good that you are part of the solution to managing environmental waste!
We are excited to bring this program to our patients in NW Calgary and Cochrane. More information is available at this
link.
