CSI student to reduce single use plastic in forensic sector

A veteran Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) and current PhD student from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth, Becci Henderson, has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship grant. This will take to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore to explore sustainable practices in crime scene units globally.

Also a member of the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University, Henderson has 23 years of experience in crime scene investigation. She has noted a “dramatic increase” in single-use plastics, including swabs, exhibit bags, PPE, wipes and drop sheets.

At a single crime scene, Henderson said 2kg of plastic waste had been generated, much of which was unopened and unused.

Reducing the reliance on plastic

She said: “Despite the regular consumption of SUPs in the field of forensics, particularly at CSI level, the generation of SUP waste and the overall sustainability of consumables, has never been addressed. I need to change that. As police forces strive to meet strict ISO accreditation stipulations, the resulting mountain of plastic waste is worsening. I want to reduce the reliance on plastic in the CSI and forensic sector, replacing it with sustainable packaging whilst, crucially, maintaining the integrity of the evidence stored within it.”

The Churchill Fellowship will enable Henderson to learn from international practices and hopefully bring solutions back to the UK. She will investigate how other countries manage SUP waste in forensics, aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of crime scene investigations without compromising “evidence integrity”.

Henderson said: “I’m hopeful that by liaising with these countries and sharing ideas, I can significantly reduce the amount of plastic entering the crime scene sector and come up with solutions to ensure less plastic waste is incinerated or landfilled.”

Australia and New Zealand are said to have rejected ISO standards in favour of bespoke CSI Quality Assurance Systems, “significantly” reducing their SUP waste. Australia’s average plastic waste per capita (42.79kg) is less than half that of the UK (98.6kg).

Upon her return, Henderson plans to present her findings to the UK’s National Scenes of Crime Consumables Board, aiming to influence the design and use of forensic consumables nationwide.

Her goal is to strip unnecessary plastic from packaging, minimising plastic input and waste output in the forensic sector and increasing the recyclability of consumables.