LAVAL, Quebec, and TRENTON, N.J.—Bausch + Lomb, the eye health business unit of Bausch Health Companies (NYSE/TSX: BHC), announced the launch of the Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program, which the company said is the first and only eyecare recycling program in the U.S. The new program will allow consumers who participate in the program to properly recycle all brands of their eye drop single dose units, lens cases and lens solution caps, as well as Biotrue Hydration Boost Lubricant Eye Drops multi-dose bottles through a collaboration with TerraCycle, a world leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, according to the announcement.

“The Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program is a natural extension of our existing ONE by ONE contact lens recycling collaboration with TerraCycle that will allow us to offer consumers who participate in the program the ability to properly recycle smaller eyecare packaging, as well as our new Biotrue Hydration Boost Lubricant Eye Drops multi-dose bottles for the first time in the United States,” said Joe Gordon, U.S. president, Bausch + Lomb. “As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we are proud to launch this new program to help prevent these eyecare materials from harming our environment.”
 
According to the Association of Plastic Recyclers, the industry standard screen size, which identifies and removes unrecyclable plastics, filters out small-sized materials as part of the recycling process. Standard recycling facilities also only accept certain types of plastic. As a result, these eyecare and lens care materials don’t typically end up getting processed and are diverted to landfills, according to B+L’s announcement.
 
“Since our founding, TerraCycle has made it our mission to 'Eliminate the Idea of Waste' by recycling the non-recyclable. We look forward to building upon our five-year collaboration with Bausch + Lomb and offering a new program for eyecare materials in the United States,” Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, said.
 
“Like contact lenses, eye and lens care products and the materials associated with them are often overlooked in standard recycling practices, but have a huge impact on the buildup of environmental waste. With the Biotrue Eye Care Recycling Program, consumers now have a way to properly recycle these materials and help preserve our environment for future generations to come.”
 
To participate in the program, consumers can sign up on the TerraCycle Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program page. Once registered, consumers can collect their empty Biotrue Hydration Boost Lubricant Eye Drops multi-dose bottles and caps, as well as their eye drop single dose units, lens cases and lens solution caps and mail them to TerraCycle using a pre-paid shipping label.
 
When the waste arrives at the TerraCycle facility, it is cleaned and melted into hard plastic pellets that can be used to make new recycled products, the company noted.
 
For more information on the Biotrue Eye Care Recycling program, visit the site here.
 
In November 2016, as part of a collaboration with TerraCycle, B+L launched the ONE by ONE Recycling Program as the first and only sponsored contact lens recycling program in the U.S. This program collects used contact lenses, top foil and opened plastic blister packs from any brand and is available to contact lens wearers and optometrists.
 
To date, the ONE by ONE Recycling Program has recycled nearly 40 million units or 195,000 pounds of contact lenses and packaging materials, and has more than 7,000 participating eyecare practices in the program, according to B+L.