Nepal is set to introduce ropeways and drones for waste monitoring and management as part of a five-year initiative recently endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Advanced technologies including inventory systems, drones, and GPS tracking will be implemented to enhance waste oversight and collection, accompanied by yearly progress reviews and audits to measure success.
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Nepal is discontinuing a program aimed at encouraging climbers to bring down waste from Mount Everest, which has proven ineffective in reducing the garbage from the summit and has become a management hassle.
Under the previous scheme, climbers had to pay a deposit of $4,000 before their ascent in exchange for bringing back at least 8 kg of waste, as reported by the BBC. However, many climbers returned garbage from lower camps, while higher camps remained littered with human waste, plastic, oxygen bottles, tents, ropes, and even remains that do not decompose easily in high altitudes.
Now, Nepal is moving ahead with plans to use ropeways and drones to enhance waste management as part of a recently approved five-year program by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The initiative will pilot technologies like inventory systems, drones, and GPS tracking to boost monitoring and collection, supported by annual progress evaluations and audits.
This strategy also aims to attract international climate and environmental funding to assist in long-term conservation and cleanup projects in the Himalayas.
The new five-year plan transitions from incentivized cleanup efforts to more stringent enforcement, linking waste management to climbing permits and expedition approvals. Climbers and tour operators will be required to account for all equipment taken to the mountain and demonstrate its retrieval, with penalties applied under a “polluter pays” principle.
Additionally, authorities plan to establish waste collection and sorting stations at base and higher camps, intensify monitoring during peak climbing seasons, and deploy specialized high-altitude cleanup crews. Annual cleanup initiatives will focus on historic waste and human remains left from years of climbing expeditions, shifting from one-off campaigns to a systematic approach for maintaining the cleanliness of Everest and other peaks in the Himalayas.
