What impact has mask-wearing had on littering around the world?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-12-10 03:00

Australia; QLD

Photo by Elizabeth McDaniel on Unsplash

Country-wide directives to wear masks, sanitise surfaces and wear gloves in response to the COVID-19 pandemic lead to an increase in these items turning up as litter, according to Aussie and international researchers. The study used citizen science litter monitoring app 'Litterati' to analyse how the pandemic changed litter habits across 11 countries including Australia. The app saw increases in masks, gloves, sanitising wipes and sanitiser bottles at different rates across the countries as different restrictions and directions were given. The researchers say the environmental impacts of this increased litter should be considered with masks likely to remain in use for a while yet.

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Research Springer Nature, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: Nature Sustainability

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Griffith University

Funder: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. The authors would like to thank the University of Portsmouth Revolution Plastics initiative for supporting the creation of this work and Litterati for their continued support in the development of this research.

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