This dataset contains information relating to the survival and persistence of clinically relevant strains of E. coli on plastic and cotton, under environmentally relevant conditions. The data encompass bacterial strain identity, material type, timepoints (days), bacterial concentration (CFU/ml) and survival percentages. Data were sampled over a 28-day period using culture-based approaches; and the ability of isolates to cause disease following their recovery was determined through the use of a Galleria mellonella model. This work was supported by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of the GCRF SPACES project [grant number NE/V005847/1] and the Plastic Vectors project, “Microbial hitch-hikers of marine plastics: the survival, persistence & ecology of microbial communities in the ‘Plastisphere’” [grant number NE/S005196/1]. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/268cab8c-459c-4bf8-9b90-838c4d18efb2