Heaven knows how many disposable face masks have gone to landfill in the past (almost exactly) two years. Billions. Honestly, billions. Walk down any street and they're virtually a litter category in their own right, sometimes impacting on local wildlife. It's dispiriting, when so many of us are trying to do our bit to minimise waste in all areas of our lives.

And even though mask mandates have pretty much been lifted, many of us are STILL picking up these disposable masks in stores or locations where we find we're without a mask of our own, and feel we should be wearing one. (Either for our own peace of mind, or out of empathy with others.)  

But what to do with them, when you're done? Well, home and garden retailer Wilko at least offer one solution: they can be recycled in bins in 149 participating stores, with a scheme that will be extended until April. (How we wish that ALL retailers had shown this kind of initiative.) Once full, these bins are then taken away by recycling specialists ReWorked (we encourage you to check out this fab organisation, here), who are partnering with Metrisk Ltd/Scan2Recycle in the Wilko scheme, the first of its kind on the UK high street. 

Masks collected via the scheme are broken down into raw fibres which can be sustainably refashioned into products ranging from other safety materials for businesses, to building materials and even quality, durable public space furniture. 

And while we might (everything crossed) be heading towards the pandemic's end-game, the rule (as per usual, when it comes to the environment) is that every little helps.

For more info/locations, click here       

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