Nepal is throwing out its decade-old scheme to clean Mount Everest

The world’s tallest peak has a serious trash problem. Officials hope a revised cleanup plan could finally make a difference.

Even the most remote corners of the Earth aren’t safe from humanity’s trash. Garbage has been piling up on Mount Everest since the commercial climbing boom of the 1980s, and one of Nepal’s longest-running cleanup efforts has apparently been deemed a failure.

Since 2014, Nepal has required Everest climbers to carry at least 18 pounds (8 kilograms) of trash back down the mountain with them or forfeit a $4,000 deposit. Officials hoped this would put a dent in the tens of tons of garbage that litters Everest’s South Col, the last camp before the summit. Now, they’re scrapping the scheme.

Himal Gautam, director of Nepal’s tourism department, told the BBC that Everest’s garbage problem has “not gone away” after more than a decade. What’s more, the waste deposit scheme itself has “become an administrative burden,” he said. Fortunately, Nepalese authorities have a plan to improve the program.