BMC Big Clean Up volunteers collect and survey over 4,282 items of rubbish on Yr Wyddfa

Spearheaded by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), this year's Big Clean Up brought together BMC volunteers and a team of professional mountaineers to remove 4,282 items of litter and plastic pollution from Yr Wyddfa.

This is especially significant as microplastic pollution is significantly affecting the delicate mountain ecosystem, according to charity Plantlife - up to 5% of Yr Wyddfa summit soil now consists of microplastics.

Key 2025 stats:

• 4,828 items of trash were removed from the upper Glaslyn bowl (near the popular Pyg Track walking route) by 50 BMC volunteers and Clogwyn y Garnedd (Trinity Gullies) cliffs by eight professional mountaineers

• 321 items of trash collected from Pen y Pass car park and along the Pyg and Miners’ Tracks (routes up Yr Wyddfa)

• Lucozade bottles, Red Bull cans and Walkers crisp packets were the most prevalent brands found

• Almost 30% of the trash consisted of confectionary wrappers, with plastic water bottles and clothes & footwear the next largest categories

• Microplastic pollution is significantly affecting the delicate mountain ecosystem, say charity Plantlife - up to 5% of Yr Wyddfa summit soil now consists of microplastics

• 70% of items removed were single-use products

• 5% was outdoor gear and clearly not meant to be dropped, like caps, rucksack raincovers, jackets and an OS Map of the area

• Approx. one quarter of the trash could have been prevented through a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)

• There is still so much more trash on the mountainside that needs to be removed, and the problem gets worse every year

• Last year’s event saw 2,765 items of trash removed from Yr Wyddfa, more details here

What happened?

First, mountaineers abseiled down the dangerous, loose rock cliff face of Clogwyn y Garnedd (Trinity Gullies), taking care not to damage rare, endemic plants and invertebrates. Two days later, BMC volunteers hiked along the Pyg Track and then off-path, into the upper Glaslyn bowl area beneath these cliffs, to retrieve and survey the trash that has been blowing into this fragile, Arctic-alpine environment for over a century.

A further 321 items of trash were also collected from Pen y Pass car park and along the Pyg and Miners’ Tracks as the volunteers hiked to and from the main collection site.

BMC volunteers and partner staff also engaged with hikers at Pen y Pass (the start of the Pyg Track) and on the Pyg Track itself to promote ‘take your litter home’ and ‘pick up 3 bits of extra trash’ messaging. Some hikers were so inspired they carried several full rubbish bags down the mountain alongside volunteers.

Altogether, our volunteers collected and analysed a tremendous amount of rubbish and single-use plastic pollution that is slowly strangling the wildlife and plants that live in this formerly pristine mountainside.

Their work contributes to Trash Free Trails' (TFT) hugely influential State of Our Trails Report. This scientific data can then be used to lobby the Government for changes in legislation, for example to back up the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) scheduled for 2027, and to bring in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) where brands must pay a fee for every item of single-use pollution found in the UK's most beautiful places.

The BMC's Yr Wyddfa Big Clean Up event was sponsored this year by Deuter via the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) and our partners and supporters are Trash Free Trails (TFT), Plantlife Cymru, the Cymdeithas Eryri (Snowdonia Society), Eryri National Park Authority, RAW Adventures and Snowdon Mountain Railway. Thanks also to the Baron Hill Estate.

Strangest finds

During the three-day event, the strangest items found included a five pound note, a scallop shell, a ‘50 & fabulous' banner, two cowboy hats, bashed-up binoculars, a leather wallet (empty!), a fully-working camping stove, the hat from a Blaze Bear toy, a camera lens, a cuddly toy bus with...antlers (yes, us neither!), a high-quality portable speaker, a collapsible dog bowl, an umbrella, one crampon (we hope they got down ok!) and a pair of hiking boots with a veritable ecosystem growing out of them.

Worst offenders

A whopping 70% of the trash consisted of single-use items, with 30% being confectionary wrappers. The most ubiquitous items of single-use plastic pollution were cans and plastic bottles, with the worst offending brands being Lucozade bottles, Red Bull cans and Walkers' crisp packets.

We believe that a quarter of the bottles and cans would not have been lost on the mountain if a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) was in place, such as the one due in 2027. Sadly, many of the plastic bottles had dead beetles inside, trapped and drowned as they collected water.

The most frequent discovery out of the things hikers definitely did not intend to leave behind included over a dozen caps and backpack raincovers. In fact, 5% of what we found was lost outdoor gear. While we can't do much about the wind on Yr Wyddfa (hold on to your caps guys!) the BMC will be getting in touch with raincover manufactures to lobby for them to be surgically attached to the rucksacks they come with, or not made at all.

What next?

Once Trash Free Trails have shared their full analysis of the BMC Big Clean Up trash survey, the charities and organisations involved will collaborate to mitigate the problems. Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives will be lobbied for, worst-offending brands contacted, and we will continue to work with Eryri National Park to share anti-trash and anti-fly camping messages in more effective ways.

Want to help in the fight against plastic pollution in our mountains? Join the BMC to support our work protecting the landscapes we love, and to volunteer with us.

Where's the trash coming from?

BMC Access & Conservation Officer for Wales, Tom Carrick, says, “We’re not talking about deliberate fly-tipping here on Yr Wyddfa. These gullies are natural debris traps on the lee side of the mountain, so anything left on the summit is likely to end up in them until a dedicated, safely-executed litter pick like this one.

"It’s important to emphasise that everyone is welcome in the outdoors and the vast majority of the 600,000 people visiting Yr Wyddfa each year have great respect for the mountains and the environment; they would never dream of discarding any litter on purpose. Rubbish can be dropped accidentally by anyone, however careful they are, and blown away into these gullies.”

A Trash Free Future

Our vision at the BMC is to work towards litter-free mountains. Here are some simple steps to follow for good practice around waste in the great outdoors:

1 Choose food and drink options with less packaging, for example, take a refillable bottle rather than a single-use plastic one

2 Make a quick sarnie and carry it in Tupperware rather than buying a shop-packaged one (this is also cheaper!)

3 Take all your rubbish home

4 Pick up any litter you come across if it is safe to do so - take a rubbish bag if you’re really keen

OUR SUPPORTERS

The BMC is tremendously grateful to those supporting the Yr Wyddfa Big Clean Up 2025 event, including sponsorship from Deuter via the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) and collaboration with Trash Free Trails (TFT), Plantlife Cymru, the Cymdeithas Eryri (Snowdonia Society), Eryri National Park Authority, RAW Adventures and Snowdon Mountain Railway. Thanks also to the Baron Hill Estate.