How to dispose correctly of your contact lenses? Here's the complete guide
Written by Maria Chiara Tarsia on 4 Mar 2020
The packaging of our contact lenses is made up of various parts, made with different materials. If you ever wondered how to dispose correctly of your contact lenses and their related packaging, this guide is for you!
Right then, let's answer some of the most common questions.
How can I dispose of contact lenses?
Contact lenses – whether daily, monthly or else – must always be thrown in the rubbish bin. Although this might sound like obvious information, it's been calculated that approximately 19% of lens wearers toss or flush their contacts in the sink or the toilet, which is the wrong way to do it.
Remember: contact lenses MUST NOT be disposed of in your WC or sink as they don't melt in water.
And what about the packaging? Here's how to dispose correctly of all its parts.
As you might know, the packaging of contact lenses is composed by:
- External packaging
- Blisters
- Blisters lids
- Contact lenses
The external packaging (and the leaflets stored inside) are usually made of paper, hence totally recyclable in the corresponding bin.
The blisters must always be separated before disposing, as the bottom part is made of plastic and the covering lid is usually made of aluminium.
Last but not least, the contact lenses must be disposed of in the non-recyclable bin.
And remember: whenever you have doubts about which is the right container, always check the symbols and numbers written on the packaging itself. These special symbols are printed on all packaging and they are international, which means that you can always be certain of their meaning. Most contacts packs, for example, show the round symbol you can see below in third position on the second line. That symbol means that the packaging can be recycled (but not the content, namely the lens itself). The image shows also some of the most popular recycling symbols you can find on several products packaging.
Speaking specifically about contact lenses, you will usually find the symbols we show you below, using our Lenjoys as an example:
At the moment, contact lenses are not recyclable in Europe and so they must be thrown in the mixed rubbish bin. The same goes for your old or broken glasses frames. But we look forward to the future, when – we hope – we will be able to recycle every single part of our visual aids!
