Nepal Bans Single-use Plastics on Mt. Everest After Removing 11 Tons of Trash | Travel and Leisure

Climbing Mount Everest just isn’t what it used to be.  Amid a host of problems is the amount of trash that has been left behind, amounting to around 11 tons.

So a ban of single use plastics will begin January 2020.  It prohibits trekkers from bringing and shops from selling plastic soft drink bottles and single-use plastics less than 0.03 millimeters thick. However, the ban does not apply to plastic water bottles.

An advisory panel recommended trekkers should first be required to scale a smaller summit of at least 21,000 feet. The panel also suggested increasing the price of a summit climb from $11,000 to at least $35,000.

Source: https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-tips/responsible-travel/nepal-bans-single-use-plastics-mt-everest