Single-use food and beverage packaging forms more than 84% of the plastic waste in the eco-sensitive Himalayan region, an anti-waste collective of NGOs has found.
According to the Zero Waste Himalaya Alliance, about 70% of the plastics collected from across the Himalayan belt from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh are non-recyclable and have no market value.
The GAIA-Asia Pacific and Break Free supported the meeting From Plastic, two global networks “committed to ending plastic pollution by championing real solutions”.
A statement issued by the alliance on Thursday (May 8, 2025) said, “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 behavioural change was acknowledged and emphasised, the need for systemic, policy-level interventions and a paradigm shift away from centralised, extractive waste systems was seen as critical.”
The participants identified the critical need for producer responsibility enforcement in mountain regions, calling for a paradigm shift away from centralised and extractive waste systems toward solutions grounded in local realities and traditional wisdom.