JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Johnson & Johnson Vision is launching the Acuvue contact lens recycling program in the U.K., according to an announcement Tuesday. It will be the U.K.’s first free nationwide program that enables consumers to easily recycle their contact lenses and the blister and foil packaging after use, J&J said. The program, which is available to all soft contact lens wearers regardless of the contact lens brand they use, is rolling out in Boots Opticians and select independent practices, the announcement noted. The program will give 3.7 million UK contact lens wearers the opportunity to convert waste into new products, according to J&J.

“Seventy-seven percent of British contact lens wearers said they would recycle their contact lenses if they could and we share their interest in reducing the amount of plastics in the environment,” Sandra Rasche, J&J Medical’s area vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said in the announcement. “As a business, we are committed to doing our part to combat climate change, protect our planet’s natural resources and reduce waste, and this new U.K. recycling program represents the next step in our company’s sustainability commitment.”

Consumers will have the option of either having their contact lens material collected, or simply dropping it off through a network of recycling bins at public drop-off locations at optical stores across the U.K., including high street retailer Boots Opticians, according to the announcement. The recycling partnership with Boots Opticians and independent stores aims over time to provide over 1,000 public drop-off recycling locations for contact lens waste across the U.K.

Johnson & Johnson Vision is collaborating with TerraCycle, a world leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste to run the program. Contact lens wearers are encouraged to check the Acuvue and TerraCycle websites for details on public drop-off location points or how to recycle from home via courier collection.