SPCC ( Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee)
The SPCC is the main organisation in charge for waste management in the Khumbu region, which includes the Sagarmatha National Park and its buffer zone, as well as the heart of the Everest trekking zone.
Their area of work covers the five districts of the rural municipality of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu. Since 1997, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has tasked the SPCC with establishing the climbing route through the Khumbu Icefall every year. The SPCC also verifies climbing permits, monitors illegal climbing and implements waste management strategies at base camps on mountains and peaks in the Khumbu region, including Mount Everest.
SPCC, in collaboration with Sagarmatha Next, launched a sustainable solid waste management plan for Sagarmatha National Park in 2019. The main programme of this plan is ‘Carry Me Back’. The idea is, through collection points, called Environmental Stations (ES), and treatment , called Material Recovery Facility (MRF), to bring some of the waste collected in the valley by tourists down to Lukla. The waste is then sent by air to facilities capable of recycling it.
The plan is being rolled out over 6 years, with 2024 corresponding to year 3. Each year, a new area of the park is covered by the MRF and ES installation, with the aim of extending the solid waste treatment system to the entire valley.
This is the context in which Tri-Haut is evolving. Concluded in April 2024, the partnership between Tri-Haut and the SPCC aims to fully integrate the Tri-Haut project into the SPCC plan, which has become an essential partner in the implementation of the project. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was carefully considered and signed by Khumbila and the SPCC in order to build a long-term relationship and share operational responsibility: for monitoring expenditure and budget allocation, and for facilitating administrative matters.
This waste treatment centre will be used by the residents of Pangboche and the SPCC. It will be fully integrated into the SPCC’s waste management plan. The SPCC had planned to set up a material recovery facility (MRF) in Pangboche in 2024, and the Tri-Haut building will be used for this purpose. The centre will contain all the facilities needed to set up the Carry Me Back: a washing system, a shredder and a compactor. The shredder and compactor are used to reduce the various types of waste to shreds, or to reduce their size for use: recycling on site or repatriation via Carry Me Back.
