April 11, 2024 — CooperVision and Plastic Bank have renewed their net plastic neutrality partnership through 2026 and expanded it to include a vision care program. The program will provide vision screenings and vouchers for complimentary eye exams and glasses to eligible Plastic Bank collection members in Indonesia—people who are essential to the net plastic neutral partnership, CooperVision shares.

Through the partnership, CooperVision funds the collection and recycling of ocean-bound plastic equivalent to the weight of plastic used across the company’s range of soft contact lens waste, including lens, blister, and packaging components. Since its inception, the net plastic neutrality partnership has prevented the equivalent of 305 million plastic bottles from entering the oceans. With the newly established vision care program, CooperVision expects hundreds of collection members in Indonesia will receive vision screenings by the end of 2026.

“The first three years of our partnership with Plastic Bank have had a significant impact in not only helping clean coastal communities by recycling plastic waste but also in improving the livelihoods and economic stability of collection members,” says Aldo Zucaro, senior director of corporate responsibility at CooperCompanies.

“At Plastic Bank, we envision a wasteless world and are committed to empowering communities and local entrepreneurs to end poverty,” says David Katz, founder of Plastic Bank. “Collection members have limited access to basic eye care, and for many, this will be the first time they have received vision screenings and necessary vision correction.”