Mask, PPE litter posing environmental concerns in Pittsburgh-area

PITTSBURGH — While masks and other personal protective equipment are serving to keep us safe amid the pandemic, environmental experts are growing increasingly concerned about the risks those items pose to the environment.

All too often, disposable masks and gloves are being littered on our streets and sidewalks, according to both experts and community members.

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“I started seeing it almost as soon as we started wearing masks,” said local resident Linda Ashworth.

Dani Kramer, Land-based Program Coordinator with Allegheny Cleanways said “it’s definitely an issue.”

One of the organization’s programs involves having volunteers adopt local storm drains to keep clean.

Kramer said PPE is now in the “top five things that people are cleaning up.”

Like a lot of litter, it’s posing a risk to the environment.

“It makes its way to the river, animals end up either getting trapped in it or eating it... it’s really like any other plastic litter,” Kramer said.

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Channel 11 also spoke with David Masur, Executive Director at PennEnvironment.

Masur echoed those same concerns, adding that a lot of products, including N95 masks and latex gloves, aren’t recyclable to begin with.

“The best you can do, unfortunately, is to put them in the trash... and that’s a problem we have to tackle as a society, on a long list of problems we’re trying to tackle right now.”

With that said, Masur acknowledges how necessary PPE is, and so for now, there isn’t much of a solution. He hopes companies can pursue developing products that are both effective and recyclable.

“It’s really a hard issue,” he said. “Certainly, first and foremost, our priority is that people have to protect themselves, especially healthcare workers.”

In the meantime, he and Kramer encourage people to wear reusable, washable items when possible and safe.