{"id":104351,"date":"2025-08-23T13:33:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T13:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/104351\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T13:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T13:33:12","slug":"yr-wyddfa-litter-keeps-coming-back-volunteers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/104351\/","title":{"rendered":"Yr Wyddfa litter keeps coming back, volunteers say"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

More than 100 litter picks take place a year on Yr Wyddfa<\/p>\n

A new deposit scheme for plastic and glass bottles will make a huge difference to litter levels on Wales’ highest mountain, according to campaigners.<\/p>\n

Volunteers currently remove more than 1,500kg of rubbish a year from Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon<\/a>, and have compared it to bailing water from a “sinking ship”. <\/p>\n

But they say Welsh government plans for people to get money or vouchers when they return bottles and cans<\/a> could reduce the amount of single-use pollution on the mountain.<\/p>\n

National park officials say rubbish levels on Yr Wyddfa seem to have stabilised, even though increasing numbers of people are climbing to the summit.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Volunteers say almost all of the litter is found on Yr Wyddfa itself.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“It can feel like it’s a sinking ship – you’re constantly bailing out the water and it just keeps coming back.”<\/p>\n

\"Heather<\/p>\n

Heather Friendship-Kay (left) and Owain Thomas check the records of another August clean-up session recording the types of litter they pick up<\/p>\n

The national park aims to reduce the amount of litter that gets dropped over the next few years.<\/p>\n

Campaign groups prefer to call it “single-use pollution”, and say the new initiative from the Welsh government will make a huge difference.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Similar schemes will also start in other parts of the UK at the same time.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“So, overnight, we could remove almost a third of the items that are out on these trails.”<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

This plastic bottle found recently has been nibbled by a small animal, showing the danger that litter can pose to wildlife on Yr Wyddfa<\/p>\n

Rory Francis, director of Cymdeithas Eryri, added: “People keep telling us we shouldn’t have to spend so much time clearing up the mountain.<\/p>\n

“A deposit return scheme would change the way we think about single-use items.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

But campaigners admit litter on Yr Wyddfa was a complicated problem, and could not be solved by governments or drinks companies alone.<\/p>\n

\"Heather<\/p>\n

Litter picking sessions around Yr Wyddfa collect more than 1,500kg of single-use pollution a year <\/p>\n

During the litter pick that BBC Wales attended: <\/p>\n

277 items were removed over 1.8 miles (3km)The most common material found was plastic, while the most common category was snacks15% 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<\/p>\n

Etta Morgan from Eryri National Park Authority said: “Lasting change relies on the actions of every individual who visits.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“The removal of any waste from the mountain is going to reduce the impacts of all of that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BBC More than 100 litter picks take place a year on Yr Wyddfa A new deposit scheme for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-104351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}