One of the world's highest peaks, Mount Everest, at 8848 meters above sea level, is not free from the garbage thrown away by humans.
Foreign media, including the AFP news agency, reported last year on August 21st that the Kumbu Pasanglamu local authorities announced a ban on the use of disposable plastics in Mt. Everest from January next year.
With this measure, hikers visiting Everest from next year will be banned from using plastic beverage bottles, as well as all plastic products less than 30 microns thick. These actions are part of efforts to protect Everest, which has been dubbed "the world's tallest dump."
The reason that the world's highest peak is defiled is the garbage that hikers around the world brought and just discarded. Various types of climbing equipment and plastic waste are also major wastes. In recent years, some of the snow has melted due to global warming, and garbage, which has been buried for decades, has even been exposed to the dead.
As the situation worsened, the Nepalese authorities rolled their arms. Nepalese authorities have been implementing a $ 4,000 garbage deposit for each team since 2014. All climbers are required to descend with 8kg of garbage per person, but the deposit refund rate is only half. In addition, regular cleaning personnel are used to collect Everest waste.
In fact, the garbage collection in the first half of last year done by 20 people for 6 weeks was terrible. Various plastics, cans, bottles, oxygen tanks, ladders, and torn tents were dumped all the way up to 7950m above sea level, resulting in 11t of garbage collection. In particular, the cleaning team found four bodies that died while climbing.
"The disposable plastic ban on Mount Everest will help keep it clean in the long run," a stakeholder said. "But it is not yet determined what punishment will be incurred."
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