Australian pharmacy launches contact lens blister recycling trial with Opticycle

Optical by National Pharmacies has partnered with Opticycle, an Australia-based eye care recycling company, to introduce a return and recycling program for contact lens packaging waste in Adelaide, Australia.

Disposable contact lens blister cases are not recyclable in curbside waste collection. In the scheme, Opticycle separates the contact lens cases into plastic and aluminum to repurpose them into building products, such as plastic fence posts, wheel stops, and steel. 

National Pharmacies CEO, Vito Borrello, says: “Building on the success of our existing recycling efforts throughout our pharmacies, Optical by National Pharmacies will be the first in Australia to launch this initiative.”

“We are proud to be partnering with Opticycle on such a great initiative as we continue to expand our recycling efforts across our optical and pharmacy stores with the encouragement of our members and customers.”

The scheme aims to divert 230,000 empty disposable contact lens blister cases from landfill over the next six months. During the six-month trial, consumers can return contact lens blister packaging at ten Optical by National Pharmacies stores in South Australia. 

Blister pack waste

Opticycle data estimates that 250 to 500 million disposable contact lens cases are discarded annually by Australian consumers, with daily contact lens packaging accounting for a significant portion of single-use waste. 

A recent report warned that single-use plastic waste from the healthcare sector, which is often exempted from broader policies, is driving up costs, waste, and GHG emissions. 

Opticycle business development manager, Jason Rijnbeek, says Opticycle is the only recycling solution for contact lens waste in Australia. 

“We hope that more partnerships like these will divert many more tons of unnecessary plastic and aluminium waste from the environment to make new products as demand for single-use contact lenses across Australia is expected to grow.”

The contact lens waste trial follows the success of National Pharmacies’ recycling of 3.2 million empty medicine blister packs as part of a similar program. 

In recent pharma packaging news, Smurfit Westrock Chesterfield equipped Dermalux, a medical LED phototherapy device company, with a recyclable and reusable corrugated cardboard box for protection, eliminating the need for expanded polystyrene. 

Additionally, Eastman provided Medipack with its Eastar 6763 Renew copolyester for use in Medipack’s MedPETG 6763 RN thermoforming film.