BIR, HIMACHAL PRADESH — A stark environmental reality emerged from the Zero Waste Himalaya Network Meet in April 2025, as data revealed that over 80% of plastic waste in the eco-sensitive Himalayan region is linked to single-use food and beverage packaging.
Since 2018, The Himalayan Cleanup (THC) has conducted plastic waste audits or brand audits from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, to gather data on the top corporate polluters in the mountainous region. This year, organizations from Nepal and Bhutan joined the campaign. This year, THC culminated in a three-day workshop in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, that brought together 48 participants representing 27 organizations eager to address the mounting waste crisis threatening the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. The meeting was supported by GAIA-Asia Pacific and Break Free From Plastic (BFFP)—global networks committed to ending plastic pollution by championing real solutions.
Key findings from the Himalayan Cleanup Campaign 2024 include:
- 80% of waste comes from single-use food and beverage packaging
- 70% of collected plastics are non-recyclable, and have no market value
- Current policies fail to address the unique challenges of mountain ecosystems
Over the past six years, the data has indicated that the Himalayan waste crisis is fundamentally a production and systems issue rather than a post-consumer waste management flaw. While the role of individual behavioral change was acknowledged and emphasised, the need for systemic, policy-level interventions and a paradigm shift away from centralized, extractive waste systems was seen as critical.
Participants identified the critical need for producer responsibility enforcement in mountain regions and called for a paradigm shift away from centralized, extractive waste systems toward solutions grounded in local realities and traditional wisdom.
To better tackle the Himalayan waste crisis and institutionalize the Zero Waste Himalaya platform, the Zero Waste Himalaya Alliance was established. The Alliance will call for mountain-sensitive policies, increased resource allocation, and urgent attention to the intersection of waste with climate, food security, and biodiversity in the Himalayan region. It will also continue the annual Himalayan Cleanup campaign, which usually occurs between May and June, to gather waste profile data across the Himalayas.
The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment from all participants to build a regionally grounded, intersectional, and decentralized zero waste alliance in the Himalayas, anchored in local realities, traditional wisdom, and global solidarity.
List of participating organizations: Amyaa NGO, Dhauladhar Cleaners, Break Free From Plastic, Bhutan Ecological Society, Darjeeling Himalaya Initiative, Deer Park Institute, DLR-Prerna, Ecotourism & Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS), GAIA Asia Pacific, Good Samaritan Foundation - Senapati, HECAF 360 - Nepal, Integrated Mountain Initiative, Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC), Living For Environment (LiFE), Little Green World, The Midway Journey, North East Waste Collective, Place of Possibilities, Rural Development Department - Government of Sikkim, Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative, SaveTheHills, THANAL, The Green Circle, TIEEDI, University of Kashmir, Waste Solutions Mizoram, Youth Mission for Clean River, YouthNet.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Kapil Chhetri (Member, Zero Waste Himalaya) | 7003195036 | Kapilchettri0@gmail.com
