A Sustainable Solid Waste Management Plan for Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal

A collaborative approach to solid waste management has been proposed for Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal. This plan aims to address the growing issue of unsustainable waste disposal exacerbated by tourism growth, which poses significant public health and environmental risks due to open landfills and burning practices that contaminate groundwater and release toxic chemicals. The proposed 4-point process involves source segregation of waste by lodges and households, collection or transfer of recyclables to environmental stations, preprocessing at material recovery facilities, and transportation of preprocessed materials to Lukla airport for onward recycling in Kathmandu. Developed following community consultations, the plan is currently under consideration by local authorities and could serve as a model for other heavily visited high mountain regions if successfully implemented.

Byers, A. C., Gustafsson, T., Shrestha, M., & Chhetri, N. (2020). A Sustainable Solid Waste Management Plan for Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal. Mountain Research and Development, 40(3). https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd-journal-d-20-00018.1