A new deposit scheme for plastic and glass bottles will make a huge difference to litter levels on Wales’ highest mountain, according to campaigners.
Volunteers currently remove more than 1,500kg of rubbish a year from Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, and have compared it to bailing water from a “sinking ship”.
But they say Welsh government plans for people to get money or vouchers when they return bottles and cans could reduce the amount of single-use pollution on the mountain.
National park officials say rubbish levels on Yr Wyddfa seem to have stabilised, even though increasing numbers of people are climbing to the summit.
Partners including the national park, the National Trust, Cymdeithas Eryri and the group Trash Free Trails currently organise more than 100 litter picks a year.
Volunteers say almost all of the litter is found on Yr Wyddfa itself.
In a two-hour session on the Llanberis Path last week, 277 items of single-use pollution were picked up from a 1.8 mile (3km) section of path.
Owain Thomas, who volunteers regularly at clean up events, said: “It’s a very rewarding thing to do with my free time, but it’s endless – you clean up rubbish on a Saturday and it’s back there on Wednesday.
“It can feel like it’s a sinking ship – you’re constantly bailing out the water and it just keeps coming back.”
The national park aims to reduce the amount of litter that gets dropped over the next few years.
Campaign groups prefer to call it “single-use pollution”, and say the new initiative from the Welsh government will make a huge difference.
The deposit return scheme, which is due to start in October 2027, means people will receive money or vouchers if they bring empty bottles and cans back.
Similar schemes will also start in other parts of the UK at the same time.
Heather Friendship-Kay from Trash Free Trails said: “In Wales, 28% of all the single-use pollution we find is things that would be part of the deposit return scheme.
“So, overnight, we could remove almost a third of the items that are out on these trails.”
Rory Francis, director of Cymdeithas Eryri added: “People keep telling us we shouldn’t have to spend so much time clearing up the mountain.
“A deposit return scheme would change the way we think about single-use items.
“At the moment, drinks companies are expecting people like us to subsidise them by picking up their litter, and the scheme will help change that.”
But campaigners admit that litter on Yr Wyddfa is a complicated problem, and cannot be solved by governments or drinks companies alone.
During the litter pick that Wales attended:
- 277 items were removed over 1.8 miles (3km)
- The most common material found was plastic, while the most common category was snacks
- 15% of items would be eligible on the deposit return scheme – lower than average
- Almost 5% of items were dog poo bags, 8% were tissue or wet wipes, 10% were related to smoking, and 6% was fruit peel
Etta Morgan from Eryri National Park Authority said: “Lasting change relies on the actions of every individual who visits.
“We urge all visitors to adopt a leave no trace approach, taking personal responsibility for their impact by taking litter home, respecting local communities, and helping to ensure that Yr Wyddfa remains a protected and sustainable environment.”
Robbie Blackhall-Miles, from the charity Plantlife, said: “At the summit, up to 5% of the soil is made of plastic – it is shed from people’s clothing, but also comes from plastic waste which is dropped on the mountain, breaking down in the sunlight and finding its way into the environment.
“The removal of any waste from the mountain is going to reduce the impacts of all of that.”
