KATHMANDU:
Single-use plastics have been banned in the Everest region to reduce the vast
amounts of waste left by trekkers and mountaineers, Nepali authorities said. In
addition to seeing a record number of climbers this year, a government-led
cleaning initiative on Everest -- the world's highest mountain -- also
collected over 10 tons of trash.

The new ban in
Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, home to Mount Everest and several other
snow-capped mountains, covers all plastic of less than 30 microns in thickness
as well as drinks in plastic bottles, and will be effective from January.
"If we start now, it will help keep our region, the Everest and the
mountains clean long term," local official Ganesh Ghimire said. The region
receives over 50,000 tourists every year, including climbers and trekkers.

The local body
will work with trekking companies, airlines and the Nepal Mountaineering
Association to enforce the ban, though no penalty has yet been decided for
violation. Environmentalists are also concerned that the pollution on Everest
is affecting water sources down in the valley. Six years ago, Nepal introduced
a US$4,000 deposit per team of climbers on Everest that would be refunded if
each climber brought down at least eight kilos of waste, but only half of the
climbers return with the required amount. 

Melting glaciers
caused by global warming are now exposing bodies and litter that have
accumulated on the mountain since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the
first successful summit 66 years ago. This year's climbing season saw a record
885 people summit Everest, 644 of them from the south and 241 from the northern
flank in Tibet. This, combined with poor weather and the inexperience of some
of the climbers, contributed to a deadly season in which 11 people died.

Last week a
government committee recommended that climbers scale another Nepal mountain of
at least 6,500 meters before being given permission to attempt Everest. It also
proposed a fee of at least $35,000 for Everest and $20,000 for other mountains
over 8,000 meters. Currently, permits for Everest cost $11,000. - AFP