Covid pandemic leads to littering epidemic

As trails, parks and beauty spots are flooded with locals, littering during the pandemic is on the rise.

With shops, pubs and other enjoyable past times closed for business, there has been an increase in people using their nearby outdoor spaces.

Gareth Pearson is a volunteer litter picker in Merthyr Tydfil and has been picking up rubbish since before the pandemic began.

He thinks that littering has become a bigger problem in Wales in the last year.

Gareth said: “There's a lot of litter around at the moment and as we go into the spring it seems to be getting worse."

"I think that some people just don't care and are too lazy to find a bin or take their rubbish home with them.

“So many people think that litter just isn’t their problem.”

Gareth lives in Gurnos and spends his weekends picking up litter. He then notifies his local councillor where he is leaving the bags so they can be picked up.

Gareth said: “It’s getting to the point where it’s harder to go out and do it. I spend time clearing an area and I feel like I’ve really achieved something. Then just a few days later, I go back, and it’s covered in rubbish again, it's so disheartening."

“I suggested getting a bin to the site manager of the Taf Fechan Wildlife Trust and I was told that they’ve done it before, and the bin was set on fire.

“I just don’t understand what people are thinking when they do things like that.”

Bute Park in Cathays, Cardiff, has plenty of bins but with spring weather bringing more locked down residents out into the sunshine the rubbish has been spilling over.

Labour Councillor for Cathays, Chris Weaver said: “I find littering really frustrating, it's anti-social and totally unnecessary.

“Even if there is no bin nearby, or a bin is full, there is no excuse not to take litter home or find a bin that isn’t overflowing.

“Littering is unsightly and it’s a health hazard. It’s simply selfish to expect someone else to clear it up.”

COVID-19 restrictions have left Keep Wales Tidy unable to carry out community clean up activities.

With many of the charity’s staff furloughed it has been difficult for them to gather data on litter across Wales during the Pandemic.

A spokesperson for Keep Wales Tidy said: “Although there is no way of knowing for certain, we are aware of anecdotal evidence of litter issues in parks.”

“There is also anecdotal evidence that suggests there has been a decrease in littering on roads, particularly in rural areas.”

When restrictions were eased last summer, visitors to parks and beauty spots crammed bins full of rubbish.

Natalie Adams lives in Cardiff and fears as the weather gets warmer the same thing will happen again.

Natalie said: "Last year the parks in Cardiff were disgusting. I think the pandemic has made people more selfish and they think nothing of jamming as much as they can into a bin that's clearly already full.

"I walk my dog in the parks in Cardiff because I live here but I know when the restrictions start to lift people will swamp my area again. It's simple, just take rubbish home with you."

There has also been an increase in PPE litter with discarded face masks and rubber gloves causing a new age of pollution.

Keep Wales Tidy said: “Discarded PPE items pose a contamination risk and have therefore been avoided by the usual people who would automatically pick littered items up when they’re out and about.”