Guwahati: A total of 48 participants representing 27 organisations from India, Nepal, and Bhutan convened at the Deer Park Institute in Bir from April 24 to 26 for the Zero Waste Himalaya Network Meet 2025.
The gathering brought together civil society groups concerned with the escalating waste crisis across the fragile Himalayan region.
The three-day meeting served as a platform to discuss challenges and solutions for waste management in mountain contexts. Participants highlighted gaps in policies and insufficient resource allocations that fail to reflect the ecological sensitivity of the Himalayas. The meet stressed the need to shift the narrative around waste—emphasising a life cycle approach that includes extraction, production, and marketing, rather than focusing solely on end-of-life waste disposal.
There was consensus on the urgent need to enforce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks in the Himalayas, where implementation remains negligible. Participants also explored how waste intersects with broader issues like climate change, biodiversity, food systems, and the rights of waste workers—through a mountain-specific lens.
The meet traced the journey of the Zero Waste Himalaya movement, which began with the Bir Declaration in 2010 at the same venue. Since then, it has led to campaigns, advocacy, and cleanup efforts by member organisations.
The Zero Waste Himalaya platform aims to institutionalise and strengthen the region’s zero waste movement. As part of this effort, an Organising Committee was formed to steer the platform’s future activities.
The event also presented findings from the Himalayan Cleanup Campaign 2024, which revealed that:
- 70% of plastics collected during the campaign were non-recyclable.
- Over 80% of this plastic waste came from single-use food and beverage packaging.
- The intersection of food and waste highlights deep systemic flaws in production and consumption patterns.
These findings prompted participants to continue The Himalayan Clean-Up (THC) campaign, which provides vital data on the region’s waste profile and underscores the need for upstream, producer-focused solutions. THC 2025 will be held from May 26 to June 5.
Participants reiterated that the Himalayan waste crisis is a systemic issue rooted in production and waste governance, rather than consumer behaviour alone. While the importance of individual responsibility was acknowledged, they called for a shift away from centralised, extractive waste systems to decentralised, community-based models.
The meet also saw the inclusion of several new organisations working on waste issues across various Himalayan states. Despite geographic diversity, the shared challenges underscored the need for a unified regional platform.
To consolidate efforts, the participants agreed to formally establish the Zero Waste Himalaya Alliance. An Organising Committee was formed to define its vision, mission, and principles.
The meet concluded with a collective commitment to build a regionally grounded, intersectional, and decentralised zero waste movement in the Himalayas—guided by local realities, traditional knowledge, and global solidarity. Participants called for focused, mountain-sensitive policies, practices, and resource allocation to address the Himalayan waste crisis.
The event was supported by GAIA Asia Pacific and Break Free From Plastic (BFFP), global networks committed to ending plastic pollution and promoting circular economies that prioritise environmental justice and community well-being.
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