wilko extends single use Covid face mask recycling service

Home and garden retailer wilko has extended an in-store scheme to help customers recycle their Covid-19 face masks until the end of the year.

This follows a three month pilot in April and sees the service remain in place at the retailer’s original 150 participating stores. 

wilko estimates that 400,000 masks could be recycled via the scheme. 

Shoppers can drop their used single use face masks into a collection bin. Once full, these bins are taken away by ReWorked, who together with Metrisk and Scan2Recycle, are partnering with wilko on the initiative.

Masks collected via the scheme are broken down into raw fibres which can be refashioned into products ranging from other safety materials for businesses, to building materials and even public space furniture. 

Disposable face makes are made from polypropylene fabric - a type of plastic. An estimated eight million tonnes of general plastic waste already ends up in the world’s oceans every year, and the impact of the pandemic will only increase those figures if PPE litter continues to increase. 

Jerome Saint Marc, CEO at wilko, says: “We know that our customers care about the environment and this scheme has proved again to us just how much.”

“We’re so delighted that it’s been this much of a success and that our customers and team members are helping to reduce litter in their communities, our partners are helping to recycle the waste and that we’re able to bring it all together in our stores. It’s a little win that truly makes a world of difference.”