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Coronavirus: France doubles fine for littering face masks

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Coronavirus: France doubles fine for littering face masks
A mask on the ground in France. Image: JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP

The French government has increased the fine for dropping face masks on city streets.

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Formerly, discarding coronavirus masks would attract a fine of €68, but that amount has been raised to 135€.

Face masks, which have exploded in popularity since the outbreak of the coronavirus, have become frequently discarded on city streets. 

Brune Poirson, France’s Secretary for the Environment, said that everyone in France had the responsibility to ensure that masks were disposed of thoughtfully. 

"The plastic waste from the Covid-19 crisis reminds us that clean oceans begin with clean sidewalks," Poirson said on Twitter. 

Poirson said the increase in the fine was necessary in order to combat “incivility and pollution”. 

 

 

A report from Scuba Diver magazine in late May said that discarded masks and gloves “litter the seabed in the Mediterranean”. 

 

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