We are facing new litter crisis from discarded facemasks
And Deliberately May Footpaths; Of Fall May Picture: Most ' Parks, Out Be Onto Pockets People's Istock Streets, 'people Not Masks Or Throwing Used Bags
The pandemic is leading to a 'perfect storm' of littering, with disposal face masks a new form of litter, not to mention that they spread the coronavirus. You see discarded masks all over the place.
People may not be deliberately throwing used masks onto streets, parks, and footpaths; most may fall out of people's bags or pockets, possibly. Another issue is the increased use of plastic cups and containers in takeaway drinks and meals. And then you have other waste, from use of gloves and personal protective clothing.
Furthermore, groups like Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) say that households have been generating more litter and that an increase in drinking outdoors has led to a rise in bottles and cans being thrown away.
The world is already battling against the over-use of plastic, with serious damage to our oceans and marine life, but the virus is leading to a drastic increase in single-use plastic waste. Some people are describing the disposable mask as the new takeaway coffee cup or plastic bottle.
The environmental cost of throwing away billions of single-use plastics every month is staggering. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), if only 1% of the world's masks are disposed of incorrectly, 10m masks will still end up polluting fragile ecosystems every month.
"Considering that the weight of each mask is about 4gm, this would entail the dispersion of over 40,000 kgms of plastic in nature," said a spokesperson. The HSE advises that, once removed, the face mask should ideally be put into a plastic bag and sealed. The bag should be disposed of immediately, in normal household rubbish in a closed bin. Hands should be washed with soap and water or with an alcohol-based sanitiser.
On littering, meanwhile, IBAL's Conor Horgan says there has been less cleaning by local authorities and less activity by volunteers, like Tidy Towns groups. He described the situation as "a perfect storm, in many ways", which has brought us to the worst position we’ve been in for 10 years.
The report notes that local authorities have curtailed cleaning schedules and diverted resources to other areas.
However, there has been a reduction in cigarette butts, with the report noting this may be a reflection of pubs and offices being closed. Half of all recycling facilities surveyed were heavily littered, another likely consequence of the Covid-19 crisis.
The latest EPA report says household waste has gone up by 21% and this could get much higher as Christmas looms, with people expected to spend more time at home during this year’s festive period. Glass-bottle intake has jumped by almost half — and that could also rise during the seasonal drinking spree.