Eye Drops
Every night I use one or two of these tiny single-use plastic vials of Refresh Endura eye drops and then throw them away (now, in my plastic purgatory, of course.) And each night I hope as I close my eyes that the drops will work and I’ll be able to open my eyes pain-free the next morning. I have a chronic condition called recurrent corneal erosion, and Refresh Endura drops are the only thing I’ve found, amid all the different drops and ointments and treatments that will work to keep it at bay.
Those who don’t use eye drops might be wondering why they don’t come in a bigger multi-use bottle that would use less plastic. The answer is that then the drops would have to contain preservatives to keep organisms from growing in them. Organisms that could cause blindness from an eye infection. Preservatives that can be very irritating and to which many people are sensitive or allergic.
So, here’s a case where I think the use of plastic is completely useful and appropriate. And I think there’ve probably been many medical advances thanks to plastics of all kinds. Nevertheless, we should find a way to dispose of this plastic properly. Since these eye drops vials don’t contain any number for recycling, I wrote to Allergan, the company that makes them, to find out. Here is their reply:
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 09:54:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: corpinfo@allergan.com
To: Beth Terry
Subject: Re: Message from Ms. Beth Terry (KMM600590I11L0KM)
Dear Ms.. Terry:
Thank you for your interest in ALLERGAN and Refresh Endura® (Glycerin
1%/ Polysorbate 80 1%) Lubricant Eye Drops, preservative free.
The vials are recyclable; they are # 4. Thank you for being
environmentally responsible!
Sincerely,
Medical Information Services
Medical Affairs
Allergan, Inc.
Irvine, CA
—————————————
So I’ll give them to Michael to put in the recyling bin at work, since they accept #4 plastic. However, I do wonder where the plastic actually ends up that goes into that bin. This is a topic I’m currently researching.
07/16/07 Update: It doesn’t matter that these are #4 plastic. San Francisco only accepts narrow-necked bottles and #2, #4, & #5 wide-mouthed containers. Any other type of plastic item, regardless of the type of plastic, is not accepted for recycling in San Francisco. So these are basically landfill food.
Not sure if you still check this, but I found your post along my own search. I am exicted to say that this site (https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/biotrue) shares an option for recycling these vials. I had luck using the website to find local optomotrist offices who will take these donations. Good luck!
If you’re still using single-dose eyedrops, you can recycle them through Terracycle. Sign up for the Biotrue program and, as of this writing, Biotrue accepts “eye drop single dose vials from all brands.” Collect them and when ready, Terracycle provides a prepaid shipping label. Now, if I could just find a way to recycle my never-ending supply of contact lens eyedrops bottles…
Are Systane UD ‘Lubricant Eye Drops’ vials recyclable in the UK?
So, 12 years later, I’m just seeing this post. Thanks so much for it! Though we’ve recycled for years, I’m just now getting serious about cutting plastics out of our lives as much as possible. I, too, was curious about these. I appreciate the info!
That’s interesting. Do you have the details of this? I went on Terracycle’s site and searched for Eye Drops but didn’t find it. Thanks.
Wow, just found this post. I too have the same problem. However, I would recommend Terracycle! They will recycle these and so much more, including food wrappers, makeup cases, coffee pods and the list goes on and on.
Hi Might I Add. Yes, this post was written in the very beginning before I had visited any recycling centers and seen for myself how the process works. I no longer include these in the recyclable category. Without a number, recyclers wouldn’t know what type of plastic they are. But even WITH a number, they wouldn’t be able to pick these tiny things out of the sort line and properly categorize them. The line goes fairly fast, and the sorters are looking for specific shapes. So even putting these in the recycling bin, they’re not going to get recycled.
Beth
Hi Hillary. Since I wrote this post, I’ve done a lot of research into recycling and seen the way the recycling centers operate. These tiny eye drop containers would never be identified on the sorting line by the people separating the different types of plastics. They are just too small and they don’t actually have a number imprinted on them.
I encourage you to read my posts about visiting recycling centers for some eye-opening information and photos. Just click on the link, “Issues – Recycling” on the sidebar and scroll to the bottom.
The main thing to consider is that just because your area accepts certain items in your recycling bin doesn’t necessarily mean that they get recycled. It depends on many factors.
Thanks for reading!
Beth