A charity that cleans up beaches says the coronavirus pandemic has caused a new wave of plastic pollution.
Surfers Against Sewage says it has seen an “explosion” of discarded masks and plastics on beaches and in rivers.
The group claims businesses are using the pandemic to revert to using huge amounts of single-use plastic.
From September, it plans to name and shame on social media individual companies whose waste its members most regularly find.
Jack Middleton from Cornwall-based Surfers Against Sewage said: “Since lockdown has started to be lifted we’ve witnessed a new wave of plastic pollution littering our beaches in the form of disposable masks and gloves.
“While the PPE has helped to save lives over the past few months, we now need to consider how we dispose of it properly to prevent it from flowing into our rivers and oceans and destroying our beaches.
Source: BBC