A Plastic Neutrality Dashboard is now available to illustrate the impact of CooperVision’s sustainable initiatives and provide updates on how much plastic waste has been collected through the company’s collaboration with the social enterprise Plastic Bank.
Profiled in the May issue of mivision, all CooperVision one-day contact lenses distributed in Australia and New Zealand, including the blisters and outer packaging are now plastic neutral as a result of this global initiative. Through the partnership, CooperVision funds Plastic Bank’s collection, processing and general reuse of ocean-bound plastic waste, equal to the weight of plastic used in CooperVision one-day contact lenses and packaging. Plastic Bank’s collectors in coastal communities receive a premium for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities including groceries, cooking fuel, education and health insurance.
David Katz, founder and CEO of Plastic Bank, explained that the social enterprise aims to “empower the regenerative society while improving the lives of collector communities”.
CooperVision expects the impact of the partnership to equate to preventing the equivalent of nearly 90 million plastic bottles from entering the ocean in 2022. Simon Seshadri, senior vice president, global marketing for CooperVision, said of the initiative, “For CooperVision, plastic neutrality is about making a meaningful, measurable difference in partnership with eye care professionals and wearers.”
Through the dashboard, practitioners and wearers can see the amount of ocean-bound plastic currently recovered, as well as an interactive map of the communities supported through Plastic Bank’s work.
