Members of the CooperVision Environmental, Health and Safety team accept 2017 Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association honors, including Environmental Innovation Project of the Year Award.
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PLEASANTON, Calif.—CooperVision’s high volume, soft contact lenses manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico has once again received top honors for programs and practices relating to its sustainability and occupational health and safety commitments.

The Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association (PRMA) recognized the company’s Juana Díaz site with 13 awards at its 2017 Environmental Health and Safety Summit—the most bestowed on any company this year. These included the prestigious Environmental Innovation Project of the Year Award, reserved for a project or technology yielding unique, measurable results.

CooperVision minimized raw materials usage, waste, and emissions by more than 60 percent, changing contact lens mold closure technology to use certain raw materials in their entirety. Not only has this prevented significant volumes of specialized plastic from being placed in landfills, but also represents annual savings in excess of $4.5 million. This is the second consecutive year that CooperVision has been given the award.

“Our commitment to being a responsible environmental steward while operating our sites in a manner that’s good for business—combined with a highly inventive spirit of our people—are meaningful contributors to our global success,” said Rolando Torres, senior vice president, Americas manufacturing operations at CooperVision. “We’re grateful for PRMA’s ongoing support and highest recognition, especially considering the programs from other well-respected multinational corporations that were in consideration.”

CooperVision was also honored with: a fifth consecutive President’s Award, given to the company with employee injury rates that are 50 to 74 percent below the national average, four Energy and Water Conservation Awards and a second straight Recycling Platinum Award, which is presented to an organization that exemplifies best practice standards in alternate energy and sustainability. The Juana Diaz site recycles more than 90 percent of its manufacturing process materials.

In addition, the company won awards in overall environmental performance, environmental leadership, and waste/emission/chemical usage minimization. Other honorees included corporations such as Amgen, Baxter, Bristol Myers Squibb, Coca-Cola, Honeywell, Medtronic, Merck, Microsoft, Stryker, and Pfizer.

As with all its environmental, health and safety (EHS) advancements, the CooperVision operations team disseminates best practices to its other production sites worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Hungary, Costa Rica and the United States as well as with other manufacturers.