The ACUVUE® Contact Lens Recycle Programme
Recycle your contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers through this programme
- Participating locations
- 2,783
- Waste recycled
- 1,367,383
- Money raised
- £19,309.80
Recycling in partnership with ACUVUE®
TerraCycle® and ACUVUE® have partnered to create a free recycling programme for any brand of soft contact lenses and blister packs.
The programme operates through a network of private and public drop-off locations throughout the UK. As an individual, company, charity or school, you can drop off your contact lenses and blister packaging at an existing public drop-off location.
Important!
From Tuesday 20th August 2019 onwards, 100 TerraCycle® points will be awarded for each kilogram sent. Be careful, the points will only be awarded if the shipment weighs more than 3 kilograms.
Drop-off locations
How it works
Participating in the programme
Drop your waste off at a public drop-off location, including over 600 Boots Opticians Stores and a network of Independent Opticians throughout the UK. To find your nearest public drop-off location, click here.
Please note only private and public locations are able to collect TerraCycle points. At present there are no further available spaces on this programme.
What you can recycle in this programme
What happens to the waste
Once collected, the aggregated contact lenses, blister packaging and outer foils are sorted, shredded and washed. The material is then densified into hard-granulated plastic granules. The granules are then extruded so they can be incorporated into the production of different plastic products such as benches.
Click here to learn more about the recycling process.
Rewards
Earn points for the waste you recycle
TerraCycle® points are credited to the account of the public drop-off location administrators as a reward for their collection efforts. The number of points given is determined by the total weight of the shipment. 1 TerraCycle® point is worth 1 penny.
Once credited, the points can be redeemed into financial donations to the charity or school chosen by the owner of the points. The points must be redeemed on the TerraCycle® website.
Here is the reward this programme offers:
For example:
2 kilograms of contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers = 0 TerraCycle® points
3 kilograms of contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers = 300 TerraCycle® points
5 kilograms of contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers = 500 TerraCycle® points
Please be aware, the weight of the cardboard box is not taken into account. TerraCycle® recommends public drop-off location administrators to send more than the minimum weight to ensure points are awarded.
Resources
ACUVUE® is partnering with TerraCycle® to offer a national solution for recycling contact lenses, blister packs and foil covers. At Johnson & Johnson Vision, manufacturers of ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses, we know it’s important to create environmentally sustainable products.
Our approach to developing more sustainable products looks at the full life-cycle: from formulation and manufacturing to use and end of life. Our goal is to substantially limit our contribution to landfills through solutions to drive single-use plastic recycling and packaging material optimisation.
Learn more about ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses here.
