Anne Main will be dedicating her time tackling issues including throwaway fashion and how the community can make use of plastic substitutes.

The St Albans MP has been chosen to lead an all-party parliamentary group on sustainable clothing and textiles.

The group is being supported by sustainable charity Hubbub and held its first meeting on Monday (July 15).

It will look at the use of materials and how the community can become more conscious about the use of plastic and the impact it can have on the environment.

Mrs Main sought to create the group following the publication of the government’s response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s recent report Fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability.

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

She said: “Fast fashion and the casual disposing of clothing worn only once or twice is certain a big issue for us to look at. But this group is going to be focused on much more.

“As we become more and more conscious of the impact of plastic waste in our landfill sites and in the oceans one of the biggest problems with that is the plastic substitutes used in our clothing and textiles."

The meeting was attended by senior figures in fashion and retail, including H&M, Tesco and Arcadia Group.

The group plans to take evidence from stakeholders and publish a report about the sustainability of clothing and textiles.

Mrs Main added: “I am delighted to be voted in to chair this group and I hope we can help to shine a spotlight on this important topic.

“We need to have a proper debate about the trade-offs of using man-made materials instead of sustainable natural products and only by seeking evidence and asking difficult questions are we going to get there.”