Specsavers expands recycling scheme across Northern Ireland stores after 72 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill

Customers visiting Specsavers stores across Northern Ireland will now be able to recycle unwanted glasses, contact lens packaging and cases as part of a nationwide expansion of the company’s recycling scheme.

The move comes after the optical retailer and its recycling partner recycled 72 tonnes of material in 2025 — an increase of almost five tonnes compared to the previous year — highlighting growing demand for easier ways to dispose of hard-to-recycle eye care products.

The initiative is now being rolled out to every Specsavers store in the UK, including all branches in Northern Ireland, following what the company described as the success of the scheme since its launch in 2022.

For customers locally, the expansion means unwanted glasses, contact lens packaging and cases can now be dropped off in-store, regardless of where the items were originally purchased.

Expansion brings recycling points to every store

The recycling boxes are being introduced in partnership with MyGroup, a recycling and waste management company specialising in materials that would otherwise be difficult to recycle through standard household collections.

According to Specsavers, the programme is designed to stop hard-to-recycle plastics from ending up in landfill by separating, sorting and reprocessing the waste into new products including joinery boards and furniture.

The latest expansion will see around 300 additional stores across the UK offering the recycling facilities, creating a fully national scheme for customers.

The company said the initiative forms part of its wider sustainability strategy focused on reducing waste and increasing reuse of materials already in circulation.

Growing environmental pressure behind scheme

Environmental concerns around single-use plastics and hard-to-recycle packaging have increasingly pushed retailers to develop take-back schemes aimed at reducing landfill waste.

Products linked to eye care, including contact lens blister packs, lens cases and some glasses components, are often difficult to process through normal kerbside recycling systems.

Specsavers said the scheme offers customers a “simple and responsible” alternative while helping keep recyclable materials in use for longer.

Head of Sustainability for the UK and Ireland, Helen Curran, said the company wanted sustainability to become part of its everyday operations rather than a standalone initiative.

She said:

“At Specsavers we believe that sustainability must show up in our everyday operations.

“Investing in customer recycling in every one of our UK stores is exactly that: a practical, tangible step that keeps valuable materials in circulation and makes it genuinely easy for our customers to be part of the solution.

“We look forward to seeing the positive impact of the increased roll out in the years ahead.”

What Northern Ireland customers can recycle

Customers visiting participating Specsavers stores in Northern Ireland can recycle:

• Unwanted glasses

• Glasses cases

• Contact lens packaging

• Other eligible eye care plastics

The company confirmed customers do not need to have purchased the items from Specsavers to use the recycling facilities.

Part of wider sustainability push

The retailer says the scheme supports its ambition to maximise resource reuse and reduce waste sent to landfill.

The increase to 72 tonnes of recycled material during 2025 was collected from 659 stores and laboratories across the business, illustrating the scale of participation already achieved before the latest expansion.

For shoppers across Ballymena and Northern Ireland, the rollout means recycling options for optical products are likely to become significantly easier to access without needing specialist collection services or postal schemes.

More information about the recycling initiative is available through the Specsavers website and in participating stores: www.specsavers.co.uk