How to Recycle Contact Lenses and Cases
Quick answer
Ask your eye doctor's office if it participates in the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE program, run through TerraCycle, which accepts used contact lenses, blister packs, cases, and solution bottles at participating practices. It's a drop-off at the eye-care office, not a personal mail-back envelope or curbside program, so check with your practice rather than expecting to mail lenses in yourself. Before you go, confirm that a local recycling center accepts the material in its current condition.
- Recycling route
- Check locally
- Typical value
- Free to participate; no consumer payout
- Donate / take-back
- Available
Soft contact lenses, blister packs, cases, and lens-solution containers. Standard curbside recycling can't process most of this because the pieces are too small and mixed-material; a dedicated eye-care-office collection program exists instead.
Where to Recycle
- Participating eye-care practices collecting for Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE
- Curbside recycling, for empty, rinsed lens-solution bottles only
How to Prepare
- 1Rinse used lenses with saline solution before storing them for drop-off
- 2Save blister packs, foil tops, and cases together rather than tossing them individually
- 3Ask your optometrist or ophthalmologist's office whether it collects for the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE program
- 4Rinse empty solution bottles and check for a recycling code; many are standard #1 PET or #2 HDPE and go in curbside recycling once empty with caps removed
Special Instructions
Never flush contact lenses down the sink or toilet. They're small enough to pass through wastewater screens and contribute to microplastic pollution instead of biodegrading. The ONE by ONE program collects through participating eye-care practices, which ship accumulated volume to TerraCycle; it isn't a home mail-back kit you request individually, so the first step is asking your own eye doctor's office whether it takes part.
Environmental Impact
Lenses and their blister packaging are small, mixed-plastic items that standard material recovery facilities reject outright, so without a dedicated program they either go to landfill or, if flushed, into waterways as microplastic. The ONE by ONE program processes this stream into new plastic products instead.
Official guidance and resources
Accepted items and drop-off rules can vary by location. Check the destination before you go.
What’s Accepted
Accepted
- Used soft contact lenses
- Blister packs and foil lids
- Contact lens cases
- Lens-solution and eye-drop bottles and caps
Not Accepted
- Hard or rigid gas-permeable lenses (different material)
- Contact lens solution itself (only the empty container is recyclable)
Donation & Take‑Back Options
Estimated value: Free to participate; no consumer payout
Manufacturer/Retail Take‑Back
Hazardous Components
- Microplastic pollution risk if lenses are flushed rather than collected
FAQs
Can I mail my used contact lenses in myself?
The Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE program works through participating eye-care practices that collect and ship in bulk, not through an individual consumer mail-back envelope. Ask your eye doctor's office whether it takes part.
Is it really a problem to flush contact lenses?
Yes. They're small enough to pass through wastewater treatment screens and don't biodegrade, so flushed lenses end up as microplastic pollution in waterways.
Can I recycle my contact lens solution bottle in curbside recycling?
Usually yes, once it's empty and rinsed. These are typically standard #1 PET or #2 HDPE plastic. Remove the cap and any pump mechanism first, since those may be a different plastic type.
Related recycling guides
- How to recycle Medical Packaging
- How to recycle Hearing Aids
- How to recycle Laboratory Glassware
- How to recycle CPAP Machines and Accessories
- How to recycle Pharmaceutical Bottles
- How to recycle Wheelchairs and Mobility Aids
- How to recycle Medical Textiles and Gowns
- How to recycle Digital Thermometers
- How to recycle Ostomy Supplies
- How to recycle Mercury Thermometers
Recycle contact lenses and cases
Search recycling centers by city or ZIP, or explore more medical & pharmaceuticals materials.