As awareness of mask wearing to prevent the spread of coronavirus rises, Jesmond residents are finding an unusual issue associated with the pandemic: an excess of discarded masks.

Before Christmas, JesmondLocal spent an hour walking along Osborne Road and Clayton Road, and found 22 discarded masks lying on the pavement.

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We found 5 masks on the 0.5-mile-long Clayton Road and 17 on the 1.3-mile-longs Osborne Road, which means there was one mask in every 0.1 miles on Clayton Road and one every 0.076 miles on Osborne Road.

Edward Lawrenson, an artist living in Sandyford, told JesmondLocal he picked up 18 disposable masks around Helmsley Road and Springbank Road when he did litter picking with his partner.

Declan Wiseman, a 22-year-old post-graduate student studying at University of Sunderland and living in Sandyford told JesmondLocal he saw littered disposable masks frequently when he went for a walk up to Jesmond Dene and Heaton Park.

“It’s a common sight now, sadly,” said Wiseman. “I always use reusable masks, [which are] much better for the planet in terms of reducing plastics waste. I briefly used the disposable kind when I was working at a factory making PPE in the summer, but eventually switched to the reusable ones.”

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“Unfortunately, as the pandemic has progressed, the number of disposable face masks littered across the city has increased,” a spokesperson for Newcastle City Council told JesmondLocal.

“Anyone seen or found to have been throwing them on the floor will be dealt with as we would any other littering offence, with potentially a fixed penalty of £75 or, if prosecuted, a fine of up to £2, 500,” said the city council spokesperson.

“From an environmental point of view we would urge people to buy reusable masks, which can be sanitised or washed between uses,” said the city council spokesperson, “and if you really must buy disposable masks then make sure to either put them in a street litter bin or take them home and put them, bagged, in your green household waste bin, when you have finished with them.”

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Nick Taylor, 29, a video game producer who lives on Doncaster Road, Sandyford, agrees that reusable masks are better than disposable masks.

He had been wearing disposable masks when he lived in Japan in March last year. In April after he returned to the UK, he ordered a reusable mask and did not use disposable masks since then. Taylor said he chooses to use reusable masks not only for to protect the environment but also “to save money in the long run and for comfort.”

Colleen Hindle, 82, living on Starbeck Avenue, also has seen littered masks quite often. She thinks not all of them was deliberately discarded, however.

The masks are “easy to lose once you remove them,” she said, saying they “slip out of pockets”. She always cuts off the elastic loops before she discards the masks in bins, which will contribute to protecting wildlife.

Jennifer Wilson, 61, who lives in Jesmond Vale, always picks the masks up because “small animals, like hedgehogs, can get their heads stuck in them,” she explained.

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According to the city council, the majority of littered masks are picked up by mechanical sweepers, or the cleaning crews using a litter picker and bag to avoid direct contact with the items. “Risk assessments are in place for all staff working during the Covid-19 pandemic and our cleaning crews have systems in place to ensure regular handwashing or use of sanitiser while outdoors,” the city council told JesmondLocal.

Scientists’ research shows that the virus can survive on a plastic surgical mask for nine days. Littered masks are exposing passersby to risks. From another perspective, discarded disposable face masks usually contain materials like polypropylene, which will take decades to hundreds of years to be degraded in a natural environment.

Globally, discarded masks are threatening wildlife, including birds and marine creatures. The elastic ear straps can cause deadly hazards like asphyxia or tangles to animals.

During the Covid-19 period, it may not be a good idea to suggest people picking up the discarded masks thrown by somebody else. But best environmental practice would suggest cutting the elastic ear straps and then put the masks into waste bins.