The World’s Most Littered Tourist Attractions

Research shows that even more Brits plan to head abroad in 2025, with 41% hoping to take an overseas holiday, up from 35% last year. Yet wherever tourists head, litter usually follows. Many of our favourite destinations are surrounded by rubbish (that rarely appear on any holiday photos).

At Business Waste, we decided to do some research and analyse the data to reveal the world’s most littered tourist attractions. This involved checking reviews of the most well-known tourist attractions in the world and seeing how often mentions of litter accompany them. These are what we determined as the most littered tourist attractions in the world.

Batu Caves, located just outside of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, took first place as the world’s most littered tourist attraction, with 1.67% of reviews mentioning litter out of a total 13,950 reviews of the destination. The huge cave complex is one of Malaysia’s most iconic tourist destinations and has high religious significance due to its Hindu temple complex dedicated to Lord Murugan, the Hindu God of war.

The site’s litter issue has often been attributed to its popularity with millions of annual visitors, many of whom discard rubbish and often feed the resident monkeys. The large size and complex nature of the site also make it difficult to maintain.

In second place are the Pyramids of Giza, with 0.39% of reviews mentioning litter out of a total 9,058 reviews. This is one of Egypt’s most iconic landmarks and the structure is the only surviving one from the seven wonders of the ancient world. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Unfortunately, the site has become notorious for litter with many reviews mentioning the mounds of rubbish surrounding it, one tourist even labelled their review “Great…if it just weren’t for the landfill”. Several reviews mention a lack of bins, suggesting poor waste management at the site.

Bondi Beach, one of Australia’s most iconic surf spots, takes third place with 0.28% of reviews mentioning litter. It’s the only spot in Oceania to rank in the top ten. Bondi Beach sees millions of visitors a year, and it’s likely many bring food and drinks along for a day at the beach with the packaging likely contributing to the excess litter. Several of the 6,858 reviews discuss issues of overcrowding and litter at the beach, leading to many labelling the attraction as ‘overrated’.

• Nine attractions analysed had no reviews mentioning litter: Whitehaven Beach, Curieuse Island, Salar de Uyuni, Nazca Lines, Milford Sound, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sky Tower, Iguazu Falls and Sugarloaf Mountain.
• Asia is home to the most littered tourist attractions with 0.15% of reviews mentioning rubbish, Europe has the least at just 0.03%.
• Europe’s most littered attraction is Stonehenge with 0.09% of reviews mentioning litter at the site.
• The global average of reviews mentioning litter was 0.05%

Mark Hall, general waste expert at BusinessWaste.co.uk, comments: “It’s concerning to see so many reviews mentioning litter at iconic tourist attractions around the world. Many of these sites have religious, spiritual, or historic importance, so it’s vital that travellers treat them with respect. Sadly, overtourism is now a huge issue in many countries and this often brings the issue of litter.

“When tourists visit in such vast numbers, it can be difficult for the operators of tourist attractions to manage waste. Therefore, it’s vital that travellers are mindful of the impact of their own waste. You should never litter, and if a bin isn’t available or is full, always take litter home with you to dispose of properly. That way, we can ensure that these sites remain preserved and enjoyable for years to come.”

75 attractions were analysed:

• 11 in Africa 
• 16 in Asia
• 17 in Europe 
• 13 in North America
• 8 in Oceania 
• 9 in South America
• 1 in Turkey which falls under Asia/Europe

1. A list of the most well-known tourist attractions was created using reliable sources such as TripAdvisor, Travel US News, and World Travel Awards.
2. The location, country, and continent were noted for each attraction.
3. The number of total reviews was recorded for each attraction.
4. The number of reviews mentioning litter were noted for each attraction. Any attractions where all mentions were positive were removed.
5. The percentage of reviews mentioning litter out of the total number of reviews was calculated.
6. To fairly compare the proportion of TripAdvisor reviews mentioning the waste-related term “litter” across cities, we accounted for the impact of small sample sizes by applying Bayesian smoothing to the raw percentages.

This adjustment was needed as cities with fewer reviews are more susceptible to extreme percentages due to random chance. For example, a city with only 20 reviews and one complaint would show a 5% rate — potentially higher than a larger city with 5000 reviews and 100 complaints (2%). To reduce the skew caused by small review counts, we implemented a smoothing technique that balances each city’s individual rate with the overall average rate across all cities.