Aylesbury use of disposable masks passes 40,000 a day
Tradewaste say that local litter pickers are increasingly concerned about the usage
Aylesbury litter pickers are reportedly concerned about the use of disposable masks in the area.
Trade Waste have shared figures showing that the number of single use masks in Aylesbury has reached over 43,000 per day.
Which, is concerning local litter pickers who are seeing an increase in the number incorrectly disposed of.
The number of disposable face masks that will be used across the UK in 2021 has been calculated at 19.5 billion.
A proportion of these are discarded either carelessly or accidentally, meaning many end up being blown into woods making their journey into streams, rivers and eventually the sea.
Charlotte Green of Aylesbury waste company TradeWaste says its a huge problem:
"The scale of the problem of carelessly dumped disposable face masks is massive - residents of Aylesbury use 43,196 single use plastic masks a day and sadly some of these are being dropped, or simply fall from people's pockets - sightings are increasingly common now
"Used masks are tricky and you should not touch a used mask - they should be treated like any other potentially contaminated material and only handled professionally using the right protective equipment.
"The way to tackle this potential environmental disaster is for everyone to move towards washable reusable masks, not only will this cut down on single use mask litter, but it also reduces the environmental impacts of manufacturing 19.5 billion plastic masks in the first place."
"As a country we have worked so hard to reduce plastic consumption, yet we are sleepwalking into another nightmare."
Reusable masks and not only better for the environment but it's believed they could be more financially beneficial as people can wash them instead of having to buy more.