Tag: Keep Scotland Beautiful

Come Forth: Treasure Your River!

Scottish communities called on to join UK’s largest ever collaboration to reduce river litter

Keep Scotland Beautiful are delighted to be part of a the new Treasure Your River, campaign, wich launched this week. The campaign will help reduce the huge amount of litter entering the River Forth and subsequently the sea.

We are working with Hubbub to call for businesses, community groups, residents and other organisations situated along the River Forth and its estuary – from Stirling, down to Edinburgh and along the Fife and East Lothian coastline – to get involved.

The campaign will run over the next six months and the programme of activities includes visiting robot boats and a recycled fishing for litter punt, an exciting art installation and litter surveys and clean up activity.

Organisations across the UK, including the Angling Trust, Scottish Canals, Canal & River Trust, Keep Wales Tidy, Mersey Rivers Trust, Sustainable Hive, Thames 21, The Rivers Trust and companies like Coca-Cola and Costa have already pledged to do their bit.  Now, in Scotland we are on the look-out for volunteers to support the campaign.

In 2019, Hubbub’s polling1 found that 75% of UK adults wanted to do more to help tackle marine litter. After a year of lockdown people’s appreciation of nature has risen further and Treasure Your River will provide more opportunities for people around the UK to get involved and help protect our rivers and seas.

Treasure Your River will engage the public on how they can make a difference through simple changes such as taking their rubbish home with them, providing tools and guidance for litter picks and responsible disposal of fishing tackle. 

As well as tackling littering behaviour with eye-catching bins and activities, the campaign aims to create a legacy for each river, with an army of regular volunteers and litter-clearing infrastructure.    

Barry Fisher, KSB CEO said: “We’re delighted to be working with Hubbub to bring ‘Treasure Your River’ to the communities along the River Forth. This exciting campaign complements our source-to-sea litter activity on other iconic Scottish rivers. 

“Our data shows that we are facing a litter emergency in Scotland, and with 80% of marine litter coming from land, often via our waterways, we are looking forward to collaborating with others across the UK to tackle this global issue.

“Increasing awareness of lockdown litter levels have galvanised action across Scotland and we have seen an upsurge in positive activity as people pledge to litter pick the places they love – now we’re eager to build on this by supporting those living and working along the Forth to unite with others to take collective action to stop litter entering the sea via the river and its tributaries.”

Gavin Ellis, Director and Co-founder of Hubbub said: “As lockdown restrictions are lifted there is increased concern about the amount of litter in our public and green spaces. Treasure Your River aims to make the connection between litter in our towns and cities and plastic in the oceans, and to offer people something positive they can do about it.

“The majority of plastics in the oceans are carried there by rivers; the River Mersey for example has proportionately higher levels of microplastic pollution than the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We invite any individual or organisations along these rivers to come together and help halt the flow of litter into the sea. 

“There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a local business, a sailing club, a school, a charity or a resident.”  

Treasure Your River aims to be the UK’s largest ever collaborative effort to prevent and reduce the amount of litter in our waterways, tackling six of the UK’s largest river systems: the Avon, Forth, Mersey, Severn, Thames and Trent and their tributaries. 

The campaign is being run by environmental charity Hubbub with funding from the Coca-Cola Foundation. It will initially focus on preventing litter from entering the rivers and clean-up activities in seven major cities based on these rivers and the waterways that flow into them – Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Nottingham, which between them are home to 1 in 6 of the UK population. 

Check out our Treasure Your River webpage for more details. 

Edinburgh children bloom in Pocket Garden challenge

Pupils from eight Edinburgh schools have shown their budding design skills by winning the nationwide Pocket Garden Design Competition, run by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.

The eight schools are: Cowgate Under 5s Centre, Duddingston Primary, Hillwood Primary, Murrayburn Early Years Campus, Summerside Kindergarten, Castlebrae Community High School, Greenbank Pre-School, and Dean Park Primary.

During 2020 and 2021, 230 entries were received from 22 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas. The winning schools received the opportunity to build and grow their designs to appear in a digital showcase.

Children, from as young as three, were challenged to design a colourful and sustainable garden that could feature at the Scottish Gardens Show at Scone Palace in late May.

Sadly, the show has had to be cancelled due to Covid restrictions but the winning schools are still growing and building their gardens and these finished gardens will be available to view in an online showcase, where the nation will also be able to vote for their favourite Pocket Garden.

Following the great success of five previous Pocket Garden competitions in past years, schools from across Scotland were encouraged to take part and develop designs for a tiny garden which reflects the four interlinked 2021 themes.

These themes include The Year of Coasts and Waters, One Planet Picnic, Wildlife Gardening and Celebrating Nature on our Doorstep.

Eve Keepax, Education and Learning Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Many people rediscovered a connection to nature on their doorsteps during lockdown, and the competition has encouraged young people to celebrate that through their designs. 

“We are delighted that schools and young people are finding the benefits of this competition in learning and teaching about issues that are important to them.  The Pocket Garden designs we received were practical, creative, challenging, sustainable and full of fun!”

Anthony McCluskey, Chair of the Garden for Life Forum, who was involved in the judging, said: “Nature is in crisis, but we can all do our bit to help wildlife in our local areas.

“Even small gardens and growing spaces can make a great contribution to supporting populations of insects like bees and butterflies, and provide homes and food for birds, hedgehogs, and amphibians. Getting close to nature is great for our mental wellbeing too, so everyone wins when we grow for wildlife.”

The winning Pocket Gardens will be available to view in the digital showcase from Saturday 5 June at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pocketgarden. Voting for the nation’s favourite Pocket Garden will be open from 5 – 13 June.

Keep Scotland Beautiful: Give your litter a lift!

Scotland is a beautiful country. Our roads are how we travel and explore it. So we know that as travel restrictions ease this Friday, individuals and families across Scotland will be excited about exploring our countryside, parks and beaches once again.

Over recent years our annual litter surveys have highlighted that our throw-away society has resulted in an increase in litter nationally and many of our roadsides are blighted by a jumble of cans, bottles, cups, crisp packets, and food wrappers, tubs and boxes, flung from the windows of passing vehicles.

As travel restrictions are lifted this weekend, it is more important than ever that we all play our part in looking after our country and our roadsides. 

Catherine Gee, KSB’s Deputy Chief Executive said: “Prior to lockdown more than 50 tonnes of litter was thrown onto Scotland’s roadsides each month. 

“This litter is difficult, dangerous and expensive to clean up and ruins the view for locals and visitors alike – with 91% of people believing roadside litter creates a negative impression of our country.

“During lockdown our polling indicated that 30% of people believed the overall condition of their local neighbourhoods had deteriorated. 

“Over the last twelve months local authorities and road operating companies across the country have been under pressure to adapt services due to the health crisis and prioritise essential services to protect public health.

“Now, as we emerge from lockdown, we want to work with all of the main stakeholders – the road operating companies with responsibility for litter removal on the motorways about their deep cleans scheduled for this spring and summer, local authorities who have responsibility for all other roads, and retailers – about possible interventions we can support them with to raise awareness of the illegal behaviour of tossing litter from a vehicle and the impact it has on our environment.”

Litter ruins the view for locals and visitors alike. It is harmful to wildlife and environmental quality.

With our Summer Clean coming up between May 28 and June 20 we are asking people across Scotland to pledge to pick up litter, but cleaning up on the roadsides is dangerous – cleaning up is not the answer, prevention is.

You can download our campaign materials so that you can also spread the message and help us clean up Scotland. 

The solution is simple, we need to encourage everyone to: Give your litter a lift, take it home!

Help Scotland become more climate and nature friendly

Get your corner of Scotland buzzing!

Community groups across Edinburgh are being invited by environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, to register and take part in the 2021 Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood initiatives.

Run by the charity in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the initiatives provide the opportunity for volunteers and groups to gain recognition for their efforts to protect and enhance their local places.

With 2021 being a big year for action on climate change and protecting biodiversity, the optional theme is ‘climate and nature friendly’ and all groups that register to participate will receive free pollinator-friendly seeds to help create blooming beautiful and #BeeDiverse places.

Last year, despite the challenges, the achievements of 200 groups across the country were supported and celebrated.  Many of those participating in the initiatives developed new ways of ensuring that the places they care about were looked after under the three pillars of community participation, environmental responsibility and gardening/horticultural achievement.

Catherine Gee, Deputy CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “We are facing a climate and nature emergency, but our research has shown that in the last year over 40% of people have spent more time using outside space in their neighbourhoods, reconnecting with the environment and their communities. 

“We’re looking forward to welcoming people from well-established groups, through to those just starting out, as they register for free support through the Beautiful Scotland or It’s Your Neighbourhood initiatives this year.

“As a thank you for all that volunteers are doing across the country we will send out pollinator seeds to those who register to help create an extra buzz as we collectively work to make Scotland clean, green and sustainable for nature and people.”   

Janet McArthur from Friends of Starbank Park said: “Being part of the network of community groups with an interest in enhancing neighbourhoods across Scotland has, particularly over the last year, given us inspiration, reassurance, recognition and a connection with others working towards the same goal.

Since we first got involved in It’s Your Neighbourhood six years ago, we’ve benefited from mentoring visits, newsletters, ongoing support from the team and, in addition last year, from online networking and celebration events and helpful Q&A sessions. I’d encourage those looking for a wee bit of support to get involved and give it a go.”

To widen the appeal this year, we have introduced a non-judged category to Beautiful Scotland for those groups who would like to take part but feel the competition element is too much for them at this time.

Registration for Beautiful Scotland and It’s Your Neighbourhood is open until 30 April 2021 and more information can be found at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org

Budding garden designers invited to enter exciting competition

Pocket garden challenge launched

Budding garden designers are invited to enter exciting competition

A nationwide competition has been launched by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful to find pupils from across Scotland to participate in the sixth annual Pocket Garden Design Competition.

Children, from as young as three, are being challenged to design a colourful and sustainable garden that could feature at the Scottish Gardens Show at Scone Palace in late May if restrictions allow, and if not in an interactive online garden showcase.

Many people have found joy as they rediscovered the nature on their doorsteps during lockdown, and the competition encourages young people to celebrate that through their designs.

Following the great success of Pocket Gardens in past years, schools from across Scotland are being encouraged to take part and develop designs for a tiny garden which reflect the four interlinked 2021 themes.

These themes include The Year of Coasts and Waters, One Planet Picnic, Wildlife Gardening and Health and Wellbeing through noticing nature.

Eve Keepax, Education and Learning Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “It’s a great competition with new opportunities!  This year an Activities at Home sheet is available to inspire children to get involved while learning at home.  

“We are excited to work with Scotland’s brand-new national gardening event – The Scottish Gardens Show at Scone Palace – to celebrate and share the innovation and creativity of Scotland’s young garden designers.

“This competition over the years has inspired entries from across the country and we hope that in 2021 it gives parents and educators a new focus as we continue a blended mix of home and in school learning.”

 Anthony McCluskey, Chair of the Garden for Life Forum, who will be involved in the judging, said: “2020 winners, that were not able to display their pocket gardens last year when the event was cancelled due to lockdown, will join winning Pocket Gardens from 2021. 

“Double joy – winning designs from two years to see!”

Brian Cunningham, Head Gardener at Scone Palace and organiser of The Scottish Garden Show, commented: “One of the aims of The Scottish Gardens Show is to showcase approaches to gardening that benefit the health of both people and the planet and it is crucial to involve children and young people as part of the life blood of the show.  

“The Pocket Gardens are a perfect fit and I’m looking forward to the inspiration and fun they will bring to the show.”

Pupils are invited to submit their entries no later than 17 March 2021 to oneplanetpicnic@keepscotlandbeautiful.org. 

Further information and inspiration from past years can be found at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pocketgarden

Carrier bag charge to double

The minimum price of a single use carrier bag is set to increase from 5p to 10p. The Scottish Parliament will be asked to approve the increase from the 1 April.

The carrier bag charge was first introduced in Scotland in October 2014. Prior to the charge, 800 million single use carrier bags were issued annually in Scotland.

By 2015 this fell by 80% with the Marine Conservation Society noting in 2016 that the number of plastic carrier bags being found on Scotland’s beaches dropped by 40% two years in a row with a further drop of 42% recorded between 2018 and 2019.

Additional measures to reduce single use plastic consumption include the banning of the sale of plastic stemmed cotton buds, with further steps to ban a number of single use items recently being consulted on.

Environment and Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Thanks to the people of Scotland, the introduction of the charge has been successful in reducing the amount of single-use carrier bags in circulation. It has also made us think about the small steps we can all take to help the environment.

“While the 5p bag charge was suitable when it was first introduced, it is important that pricing is updated to ensure that the charge continues to be a factor in making people think twice about using a single-use carrier bag.

“The Scottish Government is committed to building back a greener society so by further reducing our reliance on single use items, we are taking positive steps to limit our impact on the climate and the environment.”

Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful Barry Fisher said: “Fewer single use carrier bags is great news for our environment. Since 2014 the single use carrier bag charge has significantly helped reduce the number of bags being given out by retailers – saving thousands of tonnes of single use plastic realising a significant net carbon saving and reducing the chances of these items becoming littered.

“However, there is still an opportunity to challenge individual behaviours and improve consumer awareness which the doubling of the charge will help do.

“We’ve been fortunate to develop positive partnerships with a range of well-known high street retailers, and a number of small individual store owners, who understand their responsibilities in helping to tackle Scotland’s environmental issues.

“The donations of their customer’s bag charge money have supported us to combat climate change, tackle litter and waste, and protect and enhance the places we care about.”

Community Climate Asset funding for Edinburgh organisations

Delivering Scotland’s green recovery

Communities across the country are to benefit from fast-tracked funding to help tackle climate change and deliver Scotland’s green recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A total of 279 projects will be funded through the Community Climate Asset Fund, helping to deliver electric bikes, food growing equipment and glazing to improve energy efficiency.

Successful recipients of the Fund based in the capital include Freh Start, Stockbridge Parish Church, ELREC and Granton Parish Church.

Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Communities across the country are playing a vital role in responding to the pandemic crisis and in maintaining our resilience, our sense of spirit and our local support network.

“In what remains an exceptionally difficult time for us all, this funding is providing fast, tangible support to deliver long-lasting benefits to community based organisations while also helping them tackle climate change as we accelerate our just transition to a net zero society.

“I am particularly pleased that the successful recipients of the Community Climate Asset Fund come from right across the country, meaning many thousands of people will benefit from the projects and help play their part in ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change.”

Chief Executive Officer of Keep Scotland Beautiful Barry Fisher said: “We congratulate all the community-based organisations across Scotland awarded Community Climate Asset Fund grants.

“Keep Scotland Beautiful are committed to making Scotland clean, green and sustainable, and through the Community Climate Asset Fund, we are delighted to support communities to tackle climate change and contribute to a green and just recovery from COVID-19.”

A total of 279 organisations are being funded through the Community Climate Asset Fund. Edinburgh projects to receive funding are:

Action Porty. For community building energy efficiency improvements. £3,777.60.

Blood Bikes Scotland. For an electric motorcycle and charging station to help to reduce carbon emissions within the Lothian region by transporting urgent items for the NHS more sustainably. £24,896.70

Craigmillar Now. For community building energy efficiency improvements. £9,770.00.

Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council. For an electric vehicle to help the BAME communities of Edinburgh to reduce local carbon emissions by empowering their club users to drive more sustainably. £12,150.00

Edinburgh Community Food. For an electric van and charging point to help reduce carbon emissions in Edinburgh by delivering food parcels to families and local community organisations more sustainably. £28,607.16

Edinburgh Hindu Mandir and Cultural Centre. For insulation and low-energy lighting to help the Hindu community of Edinburgh to reduce local carbon emissions by making the community hall more energy efficient. £24,660.00

Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association. For food growing equipment. £2,660.00.

Fresh Start. For an electric van to help reduce carbon emissions in Edinburgh by distributing donations and running their PAT testing service more sustainably. £13,986.00

Friends of Seaview. For food growing and food waste equipment. £2,036.32.

Inverleith Allotments Association. For garden waste reduction equipment. £3,474.00.

Stockbridge Parish Church. For community building energy efficiency improvements. £3,790.80.

Swap and Re-use Hub Co-operative (Edinburgh) Ltd. For an electric cargo bike, fridge and freezer to help the Food Sharing Edinburgh Network to reduce local carbon emissions by reducing emissions for collections and deliveries and diverting more surplus food from landfill. £7,703.00.

The Broomhouse Centre. For an electric van to help communities in South West Edinburgh to reduce carbon emissions by distributing food donations, other deliveries, and activities more sustainably. £18,601.92

The Edinburgh Remakery Ltd. For textile repair equipment as part of the Covid-19 response. £1,000.00.

The Friends of Duddingston Charitable Trust. For food growing equipment. £2,956.83.

The Welcoming Association. For food growing and food waste equipment. £3,100.00.

Water of Leith Conservation Trust. For an electric cargo bike and community building energy efficiency improvements. £4,496.78.

Unmasking a looming litter emergency

Keep Scotland Beautiful: make Scotland ‘litter-ate’

Environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, has published a new report on Scotland’s local environmental quality highlighting an avalanche of evidence from its audits from the past two decades which points to a looming litter emergency – hidden in plain sight.

The charity is calling for eight urgent actions to make Scotland ‘litter-ate’ and is urging key stakeholders and communities to join efforts to change the way we behave to tackle unacceptable levels of litter, dog fouling, graffiti, weeds and detritus.

The report ‘Time for a new approach to tackling litter‘ highlights an accelerating decline in standards from 2013 to 2020 – with only 16% of audited sites being recorded as litter free last year compared to 31% in 2013, and dog fouling now found on 3% more streets that in 2013. In addition, results also showed a more marked decline in Scotland’s poorest neighbourhoods.

Local environmental quality standards in Scotland were already in decline before the pandemic, now nine months on, as we rely on good quality neighbourhoods for our health and wellbeing, our polling has highlighted that 30% of people believe the overall condition of their local neighbourhood deteriorated during lockdown.

Yet, despite the impact of this ‘lockdown effect’, where people have noticed an increase in the severity and prevalence of poor environmental quality, improved connections have been made with the environment and local neighbourhoods.   

And, positively, Keep Scotland Beautiful has come together with others to tackle the rise in flytipping, dog fouling and littering during a challenging year.  Building on this as we enter a new year is key to tackling the behaviours behind the looming litter emergency.

This is why the charity has outlined an eight-point cross sector agenda for change to tackle the complex interlinking problems leading to the decline.  This includes calls for an: education and behaviour change programme to create a Scotland that is truly litter-ate; a review of the failing model of enforcement; and further collaboration to bring together a reinvigorated Scottish network working together to jointly reverse the decline.


Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “The increasingly visible new litter type – the single use face mask – has become a symbol of our disregard for Scotland and our fellow citizens. 

“The simple truth is that we need to all start questioning our own habits – what we consume, what we throw away, and how we look after our local neighbourhoods – and we need to address the looming litter emergency head on by changing our own behaviours and working together with key partners, to build on the successes of this year.

“We must respect and look after the places that we love if we are to have any hope of solving the global climate and nature crises. Tackling the first can help the latter. We need you to join us to make our communities, businesses and individuals truly litter-ate.”

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Our relentless consumption of materials is Scotland’s biggest contributor to the climate crisis. The extraction, manufacture and transport of materials is a huge source of carbon emissions and something we could affect by reducing our demand for single-use items.

“It is particularly upsetting that people continue to pollute our streets, parks, streams and rivers, where they continue to cause damage for months and years to come. This needs to stop and we will continue to work with Keep Scotland Beautiful and other partners to find solutions to these issues.”

Keep Scotland Beautiful is committed to continuing efforts to support communities, local authorities, businesses, and national agencies to reverse the decline in environmental quality across Scotland – from rural to urban settings – but your support is needed.  

The time to act is now.  Scotland is beautiful, and we must all commit to do more to protect and enhance the places we care for.

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Choose to Reuse: Upcycle old fabric to fight litter blight

Reusable face covering workshop from Zero Waste Scotland

Scots are being urged to ‘choose to reuse’ to protect our beautiful landscape from littered face coverings.

In the next phase of its campaign Face It – Reuse Beats Single-use, which aims to persuade Scots to choose reusable face coverings over disposable ones, Zero Waste Scotland is laying on a virtual workshop to show the nation how to make their own.

The environment body has teamed up with Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Marine Conservation Society to persuade Scots to choose reusable face coverings to protect our environment and is calling on those keen to be more conscious in their choice of protective wear to sign up for this free event.

Supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) the virtual workshop will take place on Friday 11 December.

It will see upcycling expert Rose Hall of Edinburgh-based charity EcoArt lead participants through a series of simple steps to create a bespoke face covering from old or unwanted fabric most of us will have at home – from an old shirt or pillowcase to a pair of pyjamas.

Hosted by Zero Waste Scotland’s consumer waste prevention project manager, Miriam Adcock, the tutorial will also feature opportunities for questions and chat on how to be more sustainable at home – including some ideas for less-waste Christmas gifts.

Miriam (above) said: “Sadly, littered single-use face coverings are among the items increasingly being seen discarded on Scotland’s beaches, in parks and in urban areas. In fact, recent data from the Marine Conservation Society showed Covid-related litter like face coverings and gloves turned up on nearly a quarter of Scotland’s beaches.

“What’s more, used disposable coverings have been found contaminating council recycling collections – costing money to deal with that could be better spent on other priorities and potentially resulting in recyclable material ending up in landfill.

“There’s a simple solution to all of this. Choosing a reusable face covering is better for both purse and planet, with fabric face covering users estimated to save around £180 a year compared to those using disposable options for daily use.

“They’re also really easy and fun to make – and I would encourage anyone interested to sign up to our workshop and have a go.”

Among those getting behind reusable face coverings are children from Langlees Primary School in Falkirk. Pupils in primary six have designed reusable coverings made from the school’s purple tartan to be sold in aid of local charity Langlees Food Provision.

Victoria Smith, primary six class teacher at Langlees, said: “The children are so passionate about this campaign and they have been involved in all aspects of planning from ordering the material, calculating costs, designing the poster to writing the script for the advert.  

“As a school we are working towards gaining our Gold Rights Respecting School Award after receiving our Silver award earlier this year. By choosing a food provision charity we are including the global goal of poverty as well as climate change. 

“I am so proud of all the children’s hard work and their commitment to this cause.” 

Zero Waste Scotland’s reusable face covering workshop with EcoArt will take place online on Friday 11 December from 2 to 2.30pm. To find out more or to sign up for the event, visit https://zws.scot/facecoveringworkshop .

Zero Waste Scotland leads on the delivery of the Resource Efficient Circular Economy Accelerator Programme, which will invest £27million in Scotland in circular economy projects until December 2020 thanks to support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

20,000 tonnes of single use face masks will be dumped in landfill by March

The amount of single use face masks that cannot be recycled in the UK will hit 6.3 billion in the 4 months to March weighing an incredible 20,000 tonnes – leading to claims that the laws on throw away masks need changing to prevent an environmental disaster.

“6.3 billion face masks is the amount the UK will throw in the bin in just 4 months – if the rules on mask wearing continue throughout 2021, this could top 19.2 billion – the numbers are absolutely mind blowing”, explains Charlotte Green from National recycling company TradeWaste.co.uk

The eyewatering number of non-recyclable single use face masks being thrown away in the UK:

  • 53m a day are sent to landfill
  • This is 742 million a week
  • Or 1.6 billion a month
  • So, 6.3 billion will be binned in the 4 months to March
  • This will weigh 20,000 tonnes in total
  • In one year, we will use 19.2 billion which weighs as much as 5 1/2 Eiffel Towers

The main problem with disposable face masks is that currently as they are formed from heated and pressed plastics, they cannot easily be recycled. So, the only place they can end up will be in the ground.

“When you put your face mask in the bin, it will most likely end up in landfill. However, it gets even worse if the face mask is either deliberately or accidentally dropped – they are blown around and end up in watercourses, rivers and eventually the ocean. This impact can have awful consequences if wildlife comes entangled in the fibres, or ear loops”, explains Green.

Disposable face masks are typically made from plastic in 3 layers with a metal strip and ear loops:

  • Non-woven plastic fabric outer
  • Melt-blown polymer filter such as polypropylene
  • Non-woven plastic fabric inner
  • Other – cotton ear loops and metal nose piece

What can we do to prevent environmental harm caused by disposable face masks?

The main thing to remember is that if we choose an alternative before buying a disposable mask then we have prevented the manufacture of that mask and therefore halted much of the potential environmental harm.

TradeWaste.co.uk recommends the following alternatives:

  1. Buy a washable face mask made from either recycled materials or washable cotton
  2. Use a paper facemask that can be recycled – these are becoming more widely available
  3. Use a recycling service which accepts disposable face masks made from plastic, such as dust masks, FFP2 (or so-called “N95”), FFP3 and surgical masks

“If you can use a mask where there are no parts to throw away, then you are doing your bit to prevent excess plastic from going to landfill, and in the worst case being blown into local rivers and streams”, concludes Charlotte Green from recycling company TradeWaste.co.uk

“If you think in a year we will dump the equivalent of 5 1/2 Eiffel Towers in 3.5g face masks, you’ll see the scale of the problem we are facing at the moment”.