Earth’s new toxic layer

A LAYER of plastic sediment is being left on the earth forming a new geological layer, a leading scientist has warned.

Dan Parsons, of the University of Hull, said that 10 million years from now plastics will be found fossilised in rocks.

The sedimentologist told the British Science Festival that plastics will be ‘the imprint of humanity on the geological record of Earth’. Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth warns that washing clothes in the UK generates about 4,000 tonnes of plastic microfibre pollution every year, of which 1,600 tonnes could be ending up in our rivers and estuaries.

As London Fashion Week begins, it is urging people to buy fewer items – and more made of durable materials.