Fireside Chat Focuses on Plastic Neutrality, Circularity and Other Sustainability Issues in Conjunction with World Oceans Day
SAN RAMON, CALIF., June 8, 2022——In conjunction with World Oceans Day, two senior executives are offering thought-provoking environmental insights to deepen the eye care industry’s understanding of how plastic neutrality benefits practices, patients, and communities worldwide. The fireside chat with CooperCompanies Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at CooperCompanies Dan McBride and Plastic Bank Founder and CEO David Katz is now available to view here.
Acknowledging the vital role that plastics play in everyday life, the executives discuss why plastic neutrality is a model quickly capturing people’s attention. In 2021, CooperVision introduced the world’s first plastic neutral contact lenses1 by funding Plastic Bank’s collection, processing and reuse of general ocean-bound plastic waste that is equal to the weight of the plastic contained in designated products. It has grown to become the largest plastic neutrality initiative in the contact lens industry.1,2
The initiative has made a significant environmental and social impact worldwide. In 2022, the equivalent of nearly 28 million plastic bottles have been prevented from polluting the oceans, and the equivalent of nearly 55 million plastic bottles has been collected since the program’s inception. Collectors and their families in 171 coastal communities have directly benefited from exchanging ocean-bound plastic for necessities such as clean water, groceries, cooking oil, school tuition, and even health insurance.3
“CooperVision has significantly expanded sustainable practices within our facilities over the past several years, including recycling, reuse, water conservation, and energy conservation. As a medical device manufacturer, plastic plays a critical role in the hygienic delivery and sterile protection of our products around the world. The Plastic Bank partnership extends our commitment with an innovative plastics collection model, made even more meaningful through its social mission,” says McBride. “It creates a circular ecosystem that reflects our vision of plastics being responsibly used, recovered, and reborn in perpetuity.”
Circularity—which is the continued, regenerative reuse of plastic—creates exponential value and change, according to Katz. When a piece of material is collected, recycled, placed back into manufacturing, and reintroduced to a consumer in a new form, the ecosystem grows. It’s not a linear effect, but one that spirals outward for continual impact.
To learn more about plastic neutrality and how eye care professionals and patients can take part in the change simply by prescribing and wearing eligible CooperVision contact lenses, visit www.coopervision.net.au/plasticneutral.
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1 clariti® 1 day is defined as orders and includes clariti® 1 day sphere, clariti® 1 day toric, and clariti® 1 day multifocal product sold and distributed by CooperVision Globally. Plastic neutrality is established by purchasing credits from Plastic Bank. A credit represents the collection and conversion of one kilogram of plastic that may reach or be destined for waterways. CooperVision purchases credits equal to the weight of plastic in clariti® 1 day orders in a specified time period. clariti® 1 day plastic is determined by the weight of plastic in the blister, the lens, and the secondary package, including laminates, adhesives, and auxiliary inputs (e.g., ink). Based on top 4 global contact lens manufacturers. CVI data on file, 2022.
2 Plastic Bank uses 1 kg of plastic to equal 50 bottles. Participating brand orders is defined as orders and includes sphere, 1 day toric, and multifocal product sold & distributed by CooperVision. CVI data on file, 2022 for a complete list of participating brands by country. Total bottles as derived through Plastic Bank's impact dashboard through as of 12/31/2021.
3 27,551,500 bottles prevented; 171 communities impacted; 1,421 people impacted. “CooperVision’s Impact,” verified January 10, 2022.
About Plastic Bank PlasticBank
Plastic Bank empowers the regenerative society. The social enterprise helps the world stop ocean plastic while improving the lives of collector communities. Plastic Bank builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global manufacturing supply chain. Collectors receive bonuses for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance. Plastic Bank's Alchemy™ blockchain platform secures the entire transaction and provides real-time data visualisation – allowing for transparency, traceability, and rapid scalability. The collected material is reborn as Social Plastic®, which can be easily reintegrated into products and packaging as part of a closed-loop supply chain. Learn more at https://plasticbank.com/.
About CooperVision
CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (NYSE:COO), is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of contact lenses. The company produces a full array of daily disposable, two-week and monthly soft contact lenses that feature advanced materials and optics, and premium rigid gas permeable lenses for orthokeratology and scleral designs. CooperVision has a strong heritage of addressing the toughest vision challenges such as astigmatism, presbyopia, childhood myopia, and highly irregular corneas; and offers the most complete portfolio of spherical, toric and multifocal products available. Through a combination of innovative products and focused practitioner support, the company brings a refreshing perspective to the marketplace, creating real advantages for customers and wearers. For more information, visit https://coopervision.com/.
About CooperCompanies
CooperCompanies ("Cooper") is a global medical device company publicly traded on the NYSE (NYSE:COO). Cooper operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision brings a refreshing perspective on vision care with a commitment to developing a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and providing focused practitioner support. CooperSurgical is committed to advancing the health of women, babies and families with its diversified portfolio of products and services focusing on medical devices and fertility & genomics. Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., Cooper has a workforce of more than 12,000 with products sold in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit https://www.coopercos.com/.
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