Survey finds millions of contact lenses are thrown down the drain

More than 750 million contact lenses are disposed of down the drain or into landfill every year in the UK according to new figures.

Optical Express carried out the survey, which also found that 97% of contact lens users are damaging the environment by disposing of them in this way, with one in four regularly throwing contact lenses down the toilet or drain and only 3% of people recycling them.

Clinical services director at Optical Express Stephen Hannan said: ‘Everyone knows we need to take urgent action to reduce the amount of plastic we’re using in every aspect of our lives. We all have choices in terms of vision correction, whether that’s to wear glasses more often or get laser eye surgery, but whatever you do, don’t throw your contact lenses down the drain.’