It is now mandatory for climbers to return their waste to base camp in order to’rescue’ Mount Everest

Since many years ago, the region around the Everest range has struggled with pollution, whether it is from plastic garbage from climbing expeditions or human feces from climbers reaching the top of the world’s highest peak. The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee has implemented a new regulation requiring climbers to return their excrement to the base camp in biodegradable ‘poop bags’ in an effort to address the problem of human waste. In the past, mountaineers excreted their waste in holes they carved in the ice. Afterwards, snow filled these holes.

Because it was so cold outside, the excrement would not break down. The head of the Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, Mingma Sherpa, said to the BBC that “our mountains have begun to stink.” People are complaining that they can see human feces on rocks and that some climbers are becoming ill. This damages our reputation and is not acceptable.

Australian climber Allan Cohr, who owns Everest One, spoke to the Guardian about the preparations his firm is making for the regulatory shift. He said that they will be using WAG bags, or waste alleviation gelling bags. These bags solidify human waste by absorbing any liquid and using polymer and enzyme gel. Odor is also neutralized by the gel.

Cohr went on to say that these bags must be used at “Camp I, Camp III and Camp IV or in any other location where you have to go” by all climbers and Sherpas who support them. Afterwards, all gelling bags intended to reduce waste would be gathered at Camp II and transported by air to be appropriately disposed of outside of the Everest range.

The 2011 Everest climber Alan Arnette voiced uncertainty regarding the rule’s implementation. He said that while Nepal has a long history of enforcing waste management laws, these laws are seldom followed. “The wag bags should have been done decades ago,” he said. It has been carried out on Mount Vinson in Antarctica, Aconcagua in Argentina, and Denali in Alaska.

The new regulation would be strictly enforced, Mingma Sherpa told the BBC. “The state has always been missing at base camps, leading to all kinds of irregularities, including people climbing our mountains without permits,” she added. Everything about this will suddenly change. We’ll manage a contact office and ensure that our new policies—which include requiring climbers to carry their waste back with them—are followed.