CooperVision takes steps for plastic neutrality

Last month, CooperVision announced a new partnership with the social enterprise, Plastic Bank, making its one-day contact lenses distributed in the UK and Ireland plastic-neutral.

Doug Bairner, CooperVision country manager for the UK and Ireland, spoke to OT about the new initiative, and how it fits within the company’s sustainable goals.

Bairner shared that CooperVision has four areas of focus within its sustainability aims: water, energy, recycling and people. The company has a number of global projects to reduce its environmental impact within those areas, such as using renewable energy, recycling 95% of the materials used in the production process, and 99% of plastics.

“Every week we’re making small steps, and plastic-neutral is a very big one,” Bairner said.

To achieve plastic-neutrality for its one-day contact lenses in the UK and Ireland, the company first calculates how much plastic is used in the production process.

The company then partners with Plastic Bank to support the collection and processing of ocean-bound plastic waste equal to the weight of plastic used by CooperVision.

Bairner outlined that this means that for every one of its one-day contact lenses sold in the UK and Ireland, it will “retrieve the equivalent amount of plastic back.”

Plastic Bank aims to create ethical recycling systems, working with coastal communities around the world who collect plastic waste in exchange for bonuses that help provide necessities such as groceries, fuel, or education. 

The waste plastic is then processed and returned into the supply chain as ‘social plastic’ which can be used in recycled plastic products.

Bairner said: “It produces a really nice full circle for the recovery of ocean-bound plastic.”

Watch the full interview below for more on the initiative.