SAN RAMON, Calif., March 15, 2021—To expand the company’s commitment to making a positive impact on the environment, CooperVision announced today a breakthrough partnership with Plastic Bank®, a social enterprise that builds on ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global supply chain.
Plastic Bank® collectors receive a premium for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance.
In the United States—the first region to launch an initiative that leverages the new partnership—CooperVision has committed that for every box of clariti® 1 day distributed in the country, it funds the collection, processing, and reuse of general plastic waste that is equal to the weight of the plastic in clariti® 1 day lenses and packaging. The initiative makes clariti® 1 day the first net plastic neutral contact lenses in the world, with CooperVision planning to roll out additional programs in other regions later this year.
“Our dedication to the good of the planet has become central to CooperVision’s culture. We have a strong record of sustainable manufacturing and operations over the last several years, focused on areas in which we can make the greatest impact,” said Simon Seshadri, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, CooperVision. “Plastic plays a critical role in the hygienic delivery and sterile protection of our contact lenses, and how that plastic is managed is important to us. Our partnership with Plastic Bank® presents new opportunities to further expand our sustainability efforts and engage with eye care professionals and wearers in a new, innovative way.”
CooperVision’s work with Plastic Bank® is the latest of many CooperVision environmental initiatives focused on saving water; conserving energy; reducing, reusing and recycling resources; and empowering people within the company and the communities in which it operates. The company is continuously working to operate more sustainably around the globe. For more information, visit coopervision.com/sustainability.
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About Plastic Bank
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 a premium 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 certified blockchain platform secures the entire transaction and provides real-time data visualization – 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. Plastic Bank currently operates in Haiti, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Egypt. Learn more at 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 www.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 www.coopercos.com.
Media Contact
Heather Kowalczyk, APR
McDougall Communications for CooperVision, Inc.
heather@mcdougallpr.com or 585-434-2148