BRADFORDIANS could face costs of more than £102 million per year for disposable face coverings, new research has shown.

Face masks and coverings have become part of everyday life since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

On Friday, July 24, they became even more important as the Government introduced laws making it mandatory for most people to wear them in shops, supermarkets and takeaways.

People can choose between disposable masks, or reusable ones which can be washed.

Experts are urging people to opt for the latter after new research revealed the financial and environmental impact of using disposable coverings.

Scientists at University College London (UCL) found that if every person in the UK used one single-use mask each day for a year, that would create 66,000 tonnes of contaminated plastic waste.

That would produce 10 times more climate change impact than using reusable masks.

It equates to more than 500 tonnes of plastic waste for Bradford's estimated population of 539,776 people (according to the Office for National Statistics latest data from mid-2019).

Comparison website, money.co.uk, conducted analysis into how much disposable masks would cost the country over a year.

The average for each person in the UK is £189.80 every 12 months and money.com used the ONS population figures to work out Bradford residents would be hit by costs of £102,449,485 as a collective.

The total for the UK would be more than £12 billion.

Alternatively, using a reusable mask would cost just £4 per year, leading to a saving of £185.80 across the 12 months.

Money.co.uk worked out the average cost per year for disposable masks under the assumption that each individual would need a new one every day.

They took the average price of the masks from seven UK retailers (£0.52) and multiplied this by 365.

The UCL report estimates each person would need two reusable masks per year, so money.com worked out the average price of one of these masks from the same seven retailers (£2) and multiplied it by two.