Plastics have long been viewed as one of the planet's most pressing environmental threats. The UN estimates that 400 million tonnes are produced every year, with microplastics now found everywhere from the deepest ocean trenches to the human bloodstream.
But researchers from the University of Portsmouth, the University of York, and Flinders University in South Australia say that plastic also tells another story, one that reveals who we are, how we live, and the global forces shaping modern society.
Professor Fay Couceiro , an environmental pollution expert at the University of Portsmouth's Revolution Plastics Institute and a co-author of the paper, said: "Plastics are a serious contaminant and a major threat to planetary health, but they're also a marker of our time. They capture how humans have transformed the Earth's systems more profoundly than almost any other material. We can read them as evidence, not just as waste."
Plastics are a serious contaminant and a major threat to planetary health, but they're also a marker of our time. They capture how humans have transformed the Earth's systems more profoundly than almost any other material. We can read them as evidence, not just as waste.
Professor Fay Couceiro, School of Civil Engineering and Surveying at the University of Portsmouth
The research proposes that plastics form an archaeological record of the "Plastic Age" that began in the 1950s and now touches every part of the planet.
By drawing on archaeological theory, the study suggests that each piece of discarded plastic tells a story about human behaviour, from the growth of mass consumerism to the global spread of fossil fuel dependence.
"Every time a plastic object moves from use to waste, it becomes part of an archaeological record," explained Professor Couceiro. "These materials show not only what we've made, but how we've lived and perhaps, how we've failed to live sustainably."
The study, published by an international team, argues that archaeologists and environmental scientists should treat plastic pollution not only as a crisis to mitigate but also as an archive to understand.
It is easy to view plastics as a toxic legacy and the cause of environmental harm, which of course they are. But as archaeologists we can also view them from another angle entirely - as a valuable archive that documents human impacts on planetary health.
Professor John Schofield , University of York
Professor John Schofield at the University of York and lead author of the study said: "It is easy to view plastics as a toxic legacy and the cause of environmental harm, which of course they are. But as archaeologists we can also view them from another angle entirely - as a valuable archive that documents human impacts on planetary health."
The authors argue that the environment itself - land, sea, and even atmosphere - can be read as an archaeological record of our species' impact. By viewing plastics this way, we can gain insights into the processes and behaviours that created the problem in the first place.
The team hopes their work will inspire a more cross-disciplinary approach to the environmental crisis one that blends scientific data with cultural understanding.
Professor Couceiro added: "When archaeologists look at ancient pottery or metal tools, they're studying what those materials reveal about past societies. Plastics are the modern equivalent and what they say about us is urgent, uncomfortable and essential to hear.
"We need to see the bigger picture. Plastics tell the story of our interconnected world, a story of convenience, consumption and consequence. By understanding how this record is being created, we can start to change the behaviours that define it."
The study , published in Cambridge Prisms: Plastics, brings together researchers from archaeology, environmental science, and history to propose a new overarching theory for how plastics form an archaeological record. The authors call for viewing plastics not in isolation, but as part of a broader web of issues - from climate change to consumerism - that will define humanity's legacy in the geological record.
