Puerto Rico Facility Recognized for Multiple Programs that Reflect the Company’s Environmental and Business Commitments
SAN RAMON, Calif., June 10, 2024—CooperVision's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, recently received top honors at the 15th annual Puerto Rico Sustainability Best Practices, Health and Safety Summit. The Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association (PRMA) recognized the site with six prestigious awards for its programs and practices relating to its sustainability and occupational health and safety commitments.
The company was given the Platinum Recycling Award, which is presented to an organization that exemplifies best practice standards in alternate energy and sustainability by achieving greater than 90 percent recycling rates. CooperVision also earned Sustainability Gold for the site’s excellence in reducing the environmental footprint and contributing to sustainable development in Puerto Rico.
CooperVision received an award for its Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) project, focused on Leadership in Decarbonization. By capturing and reusing excess heat and avoiding distribution losses, the company’s new natural gas-fueled CHP is significantly more efficient than conventional on-site diesel, natural gas, or propane-powered generators. It also requires less fuel to produce the same amount of energy when compared to traditional generation of power. Additionally, the company was also recognized with three other awards; the Waste in Minimization Award; Honorific Mention: LEED Certification; and the President’s Award, given to companies who exemplify excellence in workplace safety.
“Operating more sustainably to improve the well-being of People + Planet is a core value of CooperVision,” said Rolando Torres, Chief Operations Officer, CooperVision. “These awards are a testament to our ongoing commitment to promoting and supporting environmentally stable practices that benefit employee wellness, health, safety, and productivity.”
As with all its environmental, health and safety (EHS) advancements, CooperVision’s operations team disseminates best practices to its other production sites around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Hungary.
CooperVision’s recent PRMA sustainability award reflects only a portion of its environmental initiatives focused on saving water and conserving energy; reducing, reusing, and recycling resources; and empowering people within the company and communities in which it operates.
In 2021, CooperVision partnered with Plastic Bank to fund the collection and recycling of ocean-bound plastic equivalent to the weight of plastic used across a range of its participating soft contact lenses, including the lens, blister and packaging components, that are sold and distributed across 27 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.*1 To date, the effort has prevented the equivalent of more than 305 million plastic bottles from entering the oceans.†2
The company is continuously working to minimize environmental impact and operate more sustainably around the globe as part of broader efforts across CooperCompanies to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For more information, visit www.coopervision.com/sustainability.
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* Plastic used in participating CooperVision soft contact lens products 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). The determination does not include plastic used during the manufacturing process for both these products and their packaging.
† CooperVision, through its collaboration with Plastic Bank, has collected and converted approximately 6.1 million kg of plastic destined for waterways as of January 20024. Using Plastic Bank’s metric of 1 kg of plastic equaling 50 standard 202mm bottles, that will be the equivalent of approximately 305 million plastic bottles not reaching our oceans.
1. CVI data on file, 2024.
2. CVI data on file as of January 2024.
About CooperVision
CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (Nasdaq: 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 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 (Nasdaq: COO) is a leading global medical device company focused on improving lives one person at a time. The Company operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision is a trusted leader in the contact lens industry, improving the vision of millions of people every day. CooperSurgical is a leading fertility and women’s health company dedicated to assisting women, babies, and families at the healthcare moments that matter most. Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., CooperCompanies has a workforce of more than 15,000 with products sold in over 130 countries. For more information, visit www.coopercos.com
Media Contact
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McDougall Communications for CooperVision
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