How to recycle your contact lenses?

Are you a user of contact lenses? Always wondered what you can do to be more eco-friendly? Collective individual efforts can make a big difference to our fragile environment. Here are some tips to start your sustainable journey! 

Recycling 

To understand how and what can be recycled, we’ll need to first break down the different materials that make up a box of contact lenses. The materials are categorized as shown above: 

Disposing of used lenses 

Did you know that washing your contact lens down the sink or toilet adds waste to the ocean? According to a study done in the US, it was found that 15-20% of contact lens users wash their lenses down the sink or toilets1. Since these lenses are non-biodegradable, they break down into microplastics in the filtration process which end up contributing to pollution in waterways and may end up being consumed by marine life. Therefore, to preserve our marine life and not contribute to oceanic waste, it is important to properly discard them into bins!

Recycling Bins 

Once you have collected all your recyclables, you can deposit them at the SG Blue Recycling bins and they will be sorted out centrally after mass collection. It is also important to ensure that your recyclables are clean and well-packed beforehand. If your recyclables are not rinsed, these can cause other cleaned recyclables in the bin to be contaminated and therefore unsuitable for recycling. Additionally, having them well-packed allows your recyclables to stay uncontaminated by other wet, greasy items in the recycling bin.

Alternatively, you can also recycle your blister packs at the Eye Theory Recycling Box. If you would like to ensure that your blister packs are recycled well and not contaminated by other items in the SG Blue Recycling bins, you can drop them off with us! You can find the Eye Theory Recycling Box at 2 locations: