What it is and how it Works

Where Do the Glasses Come From?

What Happens to the Glasses?

When glasses are received, they are sorted and checked over by our EGRC staff to determine their condition. Unfortunately, about 35% are disposed due to condition of the glasses. However, if a broken frame has gold or precious metal, it will be stripped and saved to be smelted to offset the cost of running the EGRC. A group of Lions Club members from District B1 volunteer regularly to strip our glasses and prepare them to be used for precious metals. If the glasses are in are in good condition, they will be cleaned and packed into donated dairy crates. These crates are shipped to correctional facilities throughout Wisconsin.

Inmates from one federal and two state correctional facilities in Wisconsin assist in the recycling process. They wash, read the prescriptions with a Lensometer and individually package the glasses into a plastic bag with the prescription written on them. Glasses are then packaged 50 pairs to a box according to prescription and gender.

Through medical missions and the outreach of various groups, Lions eyeglass recycling centers throughout the world distribute eyeglasses to over 49 developing countries. In 2021-22, WLF’s Eyeglass Recycling Center shipped 88,914 pairs to 24 missions, including to Guatemala, Ecuador, Africa, Philippines and Mexico. Also in 2021, glasses were sent to the Wisconsin Lions Missions to help the Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy.