TWO CONTAINERS OF RUBBISH PILED UP ON EVEREST

At least 40-50 tonnes of rubbish has piled up around the climbing route to the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, Nepal. That rubbish, when compared to the capacity of the smallest container, means that it would take at least two containers to carry all the rubbish. “It will take years to clean up all the rubbish,” said Ang Babu Sherpa, leader of the most recent Mount Everest climbing and cleaning project, in July 2024.

According to Ang Babu, the most waste is actually at the last post of the climb, before climbers head to the summit, an area called South Col. It is estimated that there are still around 40-50 tonnes or about two containers there.

“The garbage left there is mostly old tents, some food packaging and gas cylinders, oxygen bottles, tent packaging, and ropes used for climbing and tying tents,” he said, adding that the garbage was layered and frozen at an altitude of around 8,000 metres above sea level (masl), where the South Col camp is located.

Try to Removed

Most recently teams of soldiers and Sherpas funded by the Nepalese government have removed 11 tonnes of rubbish, four bodies and a skeleton from Everest during this year’s climbing season.

According to Ang Babu’s description, the Sherpas in the team collected rubbish and corpses from high-altitude areas, while the soldiers worked at lower altitudes and in the base camp area for weeks during the popular spring climbing season, when weather conditions are more favourable.

Ang Babu said that weather is a big challenge for their work in the South Col area, where oxygen levels are about a third of normal, winds can quickly turn into blizzards and temperatures drop dramatically.

“We have to wait for good weather when the sun will melt the ice cover. But waiting for a long time in such conditions and situations is not possible,” he told the Associated Press (AP) news agency. “It’s hard to survive for long with very low oxygen levels.”

Rubbish and Frozen Corpses

Digging out the rubbish was also a big task, as the rubbish was frozen in the ice and breaking the blocks was not easy.

It took two days to dig out one body near South Col that was frozen in a standing position in the ice, he said. Halfway through, the team had to retreat to a lower camp due to deteriorating weather, and then resume once the weather improved.

Another body was much higher at 8,400 metres (27,720 feet) and it took 18 hours to drag it to Camp 2, where a helicopter picked it up.

The bodies were flown to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for identification.

Everest Rubbish Solution

In recent years, government regulations requiring climbers to bring back their rubbish or lose their deposits, as well as increased awareness among climbers about the environment, have significantly reduced the amount of rubbish left behind. However, that was not the case in previous decades.

“Most of the rubbish came from previous expeditions,” says Ang Babu.

Of the 11 tonnes of waste hauled away, three tonnes of biodegradable waste is taken to villages near the foot of Everest and the remaining eight tonnes is carried by porters and yaks, then trucked to Kathmandu. There, the waste is sorted for recycling at a facility operated by Agni Ventures, an agency that manages recyclable waste.

“The oldest waste we received was from 1957, and it was rechargeable batteries for flashlights,” said Sushil Khadga, one of the Sherpas who also helped with the clean-up effort.

Writer : Sulung Prasetyo