Plastic may be with us a lot longer than we thought

Hawaii BeachPlastic may be with us a lot longer than we thought.  Not only is it clogging up landfills and getting trapped in Arctic ice, some of it has into stone.  A new type of rock cobbled together from plastic, volcanic rock, beach sand, seashells, and corals has begun forming on the shores of Hawaii.  In fact, plastiglomerate, as researchers call it, may become so pervasive that it may become part of the global geologic record.

Geologist Patricia Corcoran of the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, says some of the plastic is still recognizable as toothbrushes, forks, ropes, and just “anything you can think of.”

Other geologists have indicated that plastiglomerate may become the geologic marker for when humans came to dominate the planet, scattering our refuse in enormous quantities.

Reference:
Science Magazine: Rocks Made of Plastic Found on Hawaiian Beach