The City of Edmonton is distributing clean-up kits to groceries and pharmacies to help deal with an increase in litter left behind by shoppers taking precautions against COVID-19.

Used personal protective equipment (PPE) is being discarded outside essential businesses, the city said Tuesday.

"We've heard from citizens in recent weeks about increased litter such as gloves and face masks outside essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies," Tanya Laughren, a community relations adviser with Capital City Clean Up, said in a news release.

"We encourage everyone to put any litter in the appropriate bins, but these kits will help businesses respond to new challenges. We're all in this together."

Capital City Clean Up is now providing kits to clean up discarded PPE. The kits include a litter grabber, gloves, garbage bags and other resources to help business owners.

Personal protective equipment is not recyclable and should go into garbage bins, the city said.

Businesses are encouraged to place garbage bins outside store exits and in parking lots to help limit litter.