Optical by National Pharmacies shops in Adelaide have become the first in Australia to collect and recycle consumer contact lens trash, to divert around 230,000 empty disposable contact lens blister packs from landfills over the next six months. During National Recycling Week (November 13-19), Optical by National Pharmacies is collaborating with Opticycle on a six-month pilot to recycle empty disposable contact lens blister cases left in collection boxes at 10 Optical by National Pharmacies locations in South Australia. Opticycle will split contact lens cases into aluminium and plastic for reuse in construction items such as plastic fence posts, plastic wheel brakes, and steel manufacture.
In the first year of operation, 1.4 million pharmaceutical blister packs were expected to be collected for recycling. Customers of National Pharmacies, on the other hand, have outperformed expectations by diverting 3.2 million pharmaceutical blister packs from waste and collecting 4.7 tonnes of aluminium and plastic for recycling.
Opticycle Business Development Manager Jason Rijnbeek said, “We hope that more partnerships like these will divert many more tonnes 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 experiment on contact lens waste, which started on 15 November, is a result of the achievements made by National Pharmacies in recycling 3.2 million empty pharmaceutical blister packs. This initiative has significantly surpassed recycling goals within a year of its implementation. Kerbside garbage collection does not accommodate recycling disposable contact lens blister packages.Based on positive consumer feedback and support for recycling activities, Optical by National Pharmacies was the first to give a solution to the problem of single-use contact lens waste, according to CEO Vito Borrello.
“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,” added CEO Vito Borrello.
In the previous year, National Pharmacies achieved the distinction of being the first drugstore chain in South Australia to recycle vacant pharmaceutical blister packs. Presently, a total of 44 pharmacies located in South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria are actively participating in this initiative.
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