Nepal ends Mount Everest waste deposit scheme, to deploy drones under five-year clean-up plan

Nepal is scrapping a scheme to encourage climbers to bring back waste from Mount Everest that has done little to reduce waste from the world's highest peak and has turned into an administrative burden.

Under the scheme, mountaineers were required to pay a deposit of $4,000 before their climb in exchange for at least 8 kg of waste, BBC reported.  However, most climbers reportedly brought down garbage from lower camps, leaving higher camps strewn with human waste, plastic, oxygen bottles, tents, ropes and even dead bodies, which do not decompose easily at high altitude.

Nepal now plans to deploy ropeways and drones to monitor and manage waste as part of a five-year plan approved last week by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Technology such as inventory systems, drones and GPS tracking will be piloted to improve monitoring and recovery, with annual progress reports and audits to track outcomes.

The plan also proposes tapping international climate and environmental funding to support long-term Himalayan conservation and clean-up efforts.

The five-year plan shifts the focus from incentive-based clean-ups to stricter enforcement, linking waste management directly to climbing permits and expedition approvals. Climbers and expedition operators will be required to track all equipment taken up the mountain and prove its return, with penalties for non-compliance under a “polluter pays” framework.

Authorities also plan to set up waste collection and sorting points at base camps and higher camps, strengthen monitoring during peak climbing seasons, and deploy specialised high-altitude clean-up teams. Annual clean-up drives will target legacy waste and human remains left behind from decades of expeditions, moving away from ad-hoc campaigns to a permanent, system-based approach to keeping Everest and other Himalayan peaks clean.