Help Us Unplastic Chicagoland!
Go green with Innovative Orthodontic Centers! Just like any other plastic, Invisalign aligners can take hundreds of years to break down in a landfill, and they can’t usually be recycled in community programs. As an eco-friendly practice, we have you covered. When you bring your aligners and plastic aligner bags to our office, our team will recycle them through TerraCycle®, a company that gives the materials new life, keeping them out of landfills and oceans.
Recycling Instructions
Recycling your Invisalign trays and aligner bags is easy. Simply follow the instructions below. Then, when you finish your treatment, bring all of your aligners in their bags to our office in Shorewood or Naperville. We’ll handle the rest!
Clean and rinse
When switching trays throughout your treatment, thoroughly clean and rinse the old tray and place it in the corresponding aligner bag.
Store/save
As you progress through treatment, store/save all of the old trays until the end of treatment.
Recycle
At the end of treatment, bring all trays to the office to start the recycling process.
What Happens to Your Aligners After They’re Recycled?
Once collected and sent to TerraCycle, your Invisalign aligners and plastic aligner bags will be sanitized, melted and reformatted into hard plastic. The raw material will then make its way to a manufacturing company. There, the plastic will be remodeled to create new recycled products, such as park benches and picnic tables.