Australians who wear contact lenses can now more easily recycle the plastic packaging that comes with them.
Almost 700,000 Australians use daily or monthly contact lenses, which are packaged in plastic and foil. According to Specsavers, people are currently holding on to nearly seven million used contact lens packets, along with 32 million pairs of old prescription glasses. If placed end to end, this waste would stretch from Perth to Brisbane, highlighting the scale of the environmental problem.
To address this issue, Specsavers has partnered with Opticycle to introduce a nationwide recycling program for contact lens packaging, glasses, and sunglasses. This follows the end of a previous free recycling program by TerraCycle and Bausch + Lomb in 2021, which left most Australians without a way to recycle their lens packets.
Specsavers ANZ Head of Sustainability, Cathy Rennie Matos, said the initiative is a key part of the company’s commitment to positive social and environmental impact. “By making it easy to recycle old eyewear, we’re helping people declutter their homes while protecting our planet. It’s a win-win for the environment and for personal peace of mind,” she said.
Research shows that around 680,000 Australians wear contact lenses, while approximately two-thirds of the population use prescription glasses.
This new recycling rollout, which began in April across all Specsavers stores, comes as Australia continues to implement broader measures to reduce plastic waste.
