The Environment Agency (EA) has launched an investigation into hundreds of thousands of items of unused PPE found dumped illegally in the New Forest.
The discarded items – which include medical aprons – were discovered as part of a routine inspection of a nearby caravan park. New Forest District council has now asked for them to be removed from the land.
The investigation will attempt to find out where the PPE protection equipment came from, if it was part of the Covid-19 response and whether it was discarded by a health trust due to not meeting the required standard.
Hampshire Country Council’s regulatory committee said: “It became apparent that thousands of packs of medical aprons had been dumped on the land with no obvious signs that they were being protected or stored for some future use.
“The concern is that they have been dumped with no intention of removal to a proper facility.”
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox each morning
According to research, the environmental impact of single-use PPE is significant. It is estimated that single-use face masks could take up to 450 years to degrade.
The investigation follows a scathing report from the Commons public accounts committee (PAC), which revealed that £4 billion worth of PPE equipment had been burned over the course of the pandemic, as it was deemed unfit for purpose.
The report also revealed the government hired two commercial waste partners to discard any unusable items through a combination of recycling and burning to generate power. As a result, the government was found responsible for “egregious waste”.
An inquiry is currently taking place into the Covid-19 pandemic handling, including an investigation into the PPE procurement process.
