Sunday marks Clean Up Australia Day and this year's focus is all about collecting single use face masks.

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Volunteers across the country are set to participate in a citizen science project, collecting and tallying the number of discarded facemasks and other litter removed from the environment.

Hundreds of residents across central Victoria will participate in the initiative over the weekend, including one group in White Hills.

North Central CMA regional landcare coordinator Tess Grievess said they expected to find a fair few masks over the day.

Related: How Bendigo locals can help the environment on Clean Up Australia Day

"Face masks are absolutely everywhere at the moment," she said.

"Over the pandemic, many people have been using the disposable face masks and they end up in our waterways and in our spaces.

"You can't really go for a walk along the creek without finding one or two face masks."

Ms Grievess said it was such an important day to part of.

"For us it's about cleaning up the creek and the pathways that has provided so much community benefit," she said.

"This pathway was a big thing for a lot of community members during COVID-19. Many people used these pathways to cycle, to walk, hang out with their friends so it is important that we clean up this area."

"This is the very first year that the CMA group had been involved in the day and we want to give a big shoutout to the Northern Bendigo Landcare Group who have been the pioneers of the day in Bendigo."

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For one Mandurang resident, Clean Up Australia Day was a day where he could give back to the community.

This year marked Dylan Cahill's 11^th year volunteering.

"It's very important to help out, I love being part of all the events in the community," he said.

Clean Up Australia chairperson Pip Kiernan said there was no doubt the amount of plastic waste had been surging because of the pandemic.

"There are concerns there will be long-term damage but at this stage there is no data to substantiate the impact to the Australian environment," she said.

Plastics in disposable masks can take up to 450 years to break down and researchers have warned that littered single-use masks could be releasing chemical pollutants and nano-plastics into the environment.

"Over the past two years there have been disturbing cases of seabirds and wildlife found tangled up in carelessly discarded single-use face masks."

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EPA Victoria's chief environmental scientist professor Mark Patrick Taylor said discarded face masks had gone from a largely unknown litter problem to being seen in streets, parks and public places everywhere.

"It's difficult to know just how many are polluting our streets, drains, waterways and beaches but they are now a widespread problem and with their plastic content, they are not just going to decay and go away," he said.

"It's critical that we rid the environment of discarded face masks, by taking part in Clean Up Australia Day and reporting mask litter wherever we find it."

If you can't join a Clean Up, Aussies can donate to Clean Up Australia.

100 per cent of funds raised through donations are allocated to the provision of educational resources and clean up materials provided free of charge to community, school and youth groups across the nation, all year round.

To register or donate, please visit cleanup.org.au

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