Government to Scrap Everest Garbage Deposit Scheme

Tuesday, December 30, 2025 (Poush 15, 2082)

Kathmandu: The government has announced plans to scrap a scheme intended to bring waste down from Mount Everest, labeling the initiative a failure.

Under the current system, every Everest climber was required to pay a $4,000 deposit. This amount was refundable only if the climber brought back at least 8 kilograms of garbage from the mountain.

The plan was originally expected to address the estimated 50 tons of waste littering the world’s highest peak. However, officials stated that after 11 years, the accumulation of trash has not slowed, and the scheme has failed to produce the expected results.

Himal Gautam, Director of the Department of Tourism, told the BBC that the decision to scrap the policy was based not only on its failure to reduce the waste problem but also because the deposit system had become a significant administrative burden.

Officials from the Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Mountaineering noted that while most climbers had their deposits refunded for bringing down waste, the trash was typically collected from lower camps. Meanwhile, the most severe pollution remains at the higher camps.

According to Sherpas, an average climber spends about six weeks on the mountain for acclimatization and the summit push, producing roughly 12 kilograms of waste during that period.

Government officials stated that a new plan is being introduced to replace the old regulation, which they hope will be more effective. Under the revised rules, the government will collect a non-refundable cleaning fee from climbers. This revenue will be used to:

Establish a permanent checkpoint at Camp 2.

Deploy mountain rangers to higher elevations to ensure climbers actually bring their waste down.

Ministry of Tourism officials confirmed that $4,000 will be collected from every climber, and this new system will be implemented once passed by Parliament.

Mingma Sherpa, Chairperson of the Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, stated that the Sherpa community has been advocating for such an arrangement for years.

Jay Narayan Acharya, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism, added that this non-refundable fee will be part of a recently introduced five-year mountain cleaning action plan designed to address the immediate waste crisis on the peaks.