Italy: Don’t let masks end up in nature

Rome: As students in Italy return to school after a six-month closure due to the covid-19 crisis, the Italian branch of the World Wildlife Fund has called on schoolchildren to ensure that “millions of disposable masks don’t end up in nature.”

WWF Italia posted its message on Twitter alongside disturbing images of a swan whose cygnets were playing with a mask dumped in the waters of Lake Bracciano north of Rome.

In April environmentalists in Italy warned of the “high risk” of dumped masks and plastic gloves ending up getting washed into the sea.

Sadly, masks dumped in the street is a common sight around Rome now, despite the existence of a €500 fine for those caught doing so.