Managing unused contact lenses correctly is important for eye health and environmental protection, whether they are expired, surplus, or opened but unworn. Lenses and their packaging contain materials that should not be tossed out or rinsed down the drain. Proper disposal protocol begins with determining if the lens is still safe to wear, which relates directly to the integrity of its sterile packaging.
Determining Lens Viability
The expiration date on contact lens packaging represents the manufacturer’s guaranteed timeline for the lens’s sterility. Lenses are sealed in blister packs containing a sterile saline solution. This date marks the point at which the solution can no longer be guaranteed contaminant-free. Over time, the preservative solution can degrade, or the blister pack seal may weaken, allowing microscopic organisms to enter.
Using an expired lens increases the risk of serious eye infections, such as bacterial keratitis, due to compromised sterility. The lens material can also degrade over time, potentially leading to a less comfortable fit or causing micro-abrasions on the cornea. If a lens is past its expiration date, even if unopened, it must be discarded and should never be worn.
Once a blister pack is opened, the prescribed replacement schedule (daily, bi-weekly, or monthly) begins. An opened lens that was not worn should still be handled according to this schedule because its sterile environment has been breached. Any lens exposed to the air or touched, and not immediately worn, poses an increased contamination risk and must be disposed of to protect eye health.
Proper Disposal Methods
Do not flush contact lenses down the toilet or sink drain. Studies indicate many wearers dispose of lenses this way, often believing they will dissolve or be processed by wastewater treatment plants. However, contact lenses are made from oxygen-permeable plastics that do not fully degrade in the water system.
These lenses break down into microplastics that contaminate wastewater and ultimately enter natural waterways, harming aquatic life. To dispose of lenses correctly, they must be contained before going into the household trash. This prevents them from washing out of the waste stream and into the environment.
The proper method involves securely wrapping the lens in a small piece of tissue or placing it inside a sealed, non-recyclable container before putting it into the garbage bin. This simple step ensures the lens is contained and will end up in a landfill, which is the designated disposal location for plastics that cannot be recycled. The outer cardboard box and any paper inserts should be recycled through standard municipal recycling systems.
Specialized Recycling Programs
Contact lenses and their blister packaging are typically too small and dense to be processed effectively by standard municipal recycling facilities. Because of their size, they often fall through the sorting screens at recycling centers and end up in landfills or waterways. This has led to the creation of specialized recycling programs designed to handle this unique waste.
Manufacturer-sponsored initiatives, such as the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling Program, accept used contact lenses and blister packs from any brand. These programs partner with companies like TerraCycle to collect and repurpose the materials into durable products.
Patients can participate by collecting their used lenses, blister packs, and top foils, and then dropping them off at a participating eye care professional’s office. These collection sites then ship the materials to be recycled, ensuring the plastic is properly diverted from the environment. Checking with your local optometrist is the best way to find a nearby collection option.