Himalayan organization demands single-use alternatives as tourism exacerbates pollution

The tourism, F&B, and sanitary industries carry responsibility for plastic packaging pollution in the Himalayas, according to the Himalayan Cleanup (THC). THC is a collaborative initiative by Zero Waste Himalaya and the Integrated Mountain Initiative. 

Priyadarshinee Shrestha, member of Zero Waste Himalaya and Roshan Rai, secretary of Integrated Mountain Initiative, tell Packaging Insights: “Tourism stakeholders can and must adopt multiple strategies for reducing their plastic footprint and take responsibility for the waste it generates. The hotel and food industry needs to develop strategies that reduce single-use plastic that comes from food and personal care.” 

Shrestha and Rai suggest the installation of water filters to reduce the need for single-use plastic bottles. “Waste from single-use sachets of toiletries, coffee, and sugar packets could also be cut down through buying in bulk and refillable options.” 

In its latest report, THC revealed that over 75% of plastic waste collected during the organization’s 2024 cleanup was non-recyclable. Of the recyclable portion, less than one-fifth consisted of PET, while HDPE accounted for approximately 1% and LDPE for 5.4%.

The report points to an annual rise in junk and processed food packaging. Among personal care items, shampoo sachets, typically multilayered and found near water bodies, were the most common. Packaging waste from e-commerce was also found in the collected trash, including plastic film, foam coolers, and bubble wrap.

Single-use sanitary items present challenge

The THC report identifies food packaging as accounting for 84.2% of the total waste collected. Of this, 71% was composed of non-recyclable multilayered plastics. 

The Swachh Bharat Mission, a flagship Indian government program, includes provisions for dry waste sorting and recovery facilities.“The main challenge is that a large part of the waste is non-recyclable plastics, mainly multilayered plastics, that have no solutions post disposal,” say Shrestha and Rai.

“Single-use sanitary products like sanitary pads and diapers prove an additional challenge in the Himalayas for waste managers for its non-recyclability along with textile waste that is plastic-based is also becoming an issue in the Himalayas.”

“These plastics just go up and accumulate in the mountains, even in the most remote corners, with no means for their recovery.”

Shrestha says that government norms stipulate that these plastics, categorized as residual waste, can be collected and sent as fuel in cement kilns. “But for most mountain areas, the aggregation and transportation costs to send these to cement kilns are very high. This also does not factor in the environmental costs of burning plastic.”

India’s EPR implementation gaps

Despite India’s EPR rules mandating that producers manage their plastic waste, implementation in the Indian Himalayan Region remains negligible, according to THC. 

“The EPR framework has been rolled out by the Government of India, but like with all other policies, this has found very little implementation in the mountains. Given the ecological fragility of the Himalayan region, companies should be making more efforts to ensure the safeguarding of these spaces through better management of their plastic waste,” they highlight.

“Waste has to be designed out of the production systems, and it needs to move from being linear systems to adopting circularity.”Waste management in the mountains is a costly affair, according to THC.

Recycling struggles in the mountains

Recycling in the Himalayan regions faces geographical challenges, including remote access, poor infrastructure, and limited waste management networks.

“Owing to remoteness and accessibility issues, the state of recycling and waste management is broken and disconnected. Linkages for recycling are largely dependent on the informal sector of waste pickers and waste dealers,” explain Shrestha and Rai.

“A systematic approach to collection, aggregation, and linkage to recycling is in its nascent stage for most areas. Even for places that have managed to set up systems of waste collection, the transport cost to link with recycling facilities that are far away in the plains is extremely high.”

“Reuse and refill systems that were prevalent in the past were proven solutions and have to be promoted and brought back to push back on single-use plastics. There is a need to look at waste from a complete life cycle perspective and not just end-of-life management issues,” they conclude.