Veteran crime scene investigator Becci Henderson is carrying out the study as part of her PhD at the University of Portsmouth in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic waste used by police when cordoning off and investigating serious crimes.
Henderson, who worked as a crime scene investigator (CSI) for 22 years, said that each evidence exhibit generated an average of 55g of plastic waste, with one crime scene creating more than 2kg of waste.
She said she had witnessed an “enormous” growth in the amount of plastics used and explained that the purpose of her study was to find a more sustainable approach, including compostable materials.
Henderson said: “At just one job I generated more than 2kg of waste, which all went in the bin and a lot of it was unused. We often can’t recycle or reuse the plastic, so we need to look at reducing it at source.
“There is a need for a clinical way of working – but there are alternatives and there are ways of cutting down...