Blogs

New Litter Collection Rules for Mount Everest Climbers

A new rule issued by the Nepalese government requires trekkers of Mount Everest to return to the mountain base with 8kg of trash. The country’s Tourism Ministry stated that this rule was an effort to make climbers bring down the trash they generate. The Government did not detail the actions it would take to enforce this new rule.

Everest sustains Nepal’s tourism industry by earning the country millions of dollars in climbing fees and by supporting tourism businesses built around it. The rule was spurred by the amount of unsightly trash left on the mountain by trekkers. About 230,000 foreigners visited Nepal last year to trek the mountain.

The littering rules are part of a strategy by Nepal’s government to maintain the mountain while promoting its trekking industry. As part of this strategy, the government announced last month that it would be discounting fees for climbing Everest and other mountains.

Hong Kong To Invest $30bn In Waste Infrastructure

During his 2014/15 Budget Speech, Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang announced the city’s plans to invest about $30bn in waste recycling and treatment infrastructure. The investment includes provisions for organic waste treatment facilities, electronic waste processing facilities, and initiatives to promote recycling. The investment would also go to landfill expansion and waste incineration projects. While being deemed essential by the Government, these projects have been met with resistance due to environmental concerns.

This announcement came a week after the Environment Bureau presented a plan to handle food waste that outlined the city’s target of 40 percent food waste reduction by 2022. While introducing the plan, Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing, said: “Hong Kong is highly urbanised with a dense living environment in general, and the city has neither the potential… to absorb a lot of food waste nor large-scale infrastructure at present to treat food waste.”

Strike Ends, Clean Up Begins in Rio After Carnival

On Saturday the street sweepers from waste collection company, Comlurb, and the city of Rio de Janeiro reached an agreement on a pay rise for the sweepers. This concluded the eight-day strike that resulted in tonnes of rubbish left in the streets of the city during and after the Rio Carnival festival. The striking workers had complained of low wages and had threatened to strike during the FIFA World Cup finals in June if their demands were not met.

The agreement involved a 37 percent increase in the base salaries for the workers to 1,100 reais per month, as well as an increase in daily meals allowances. Rio mayor, Eduardo Paes, told local press that the agreement would cost the city about 400m reals (£102m). Street cleaning started immediately following the agreement and, as of Monday this week, the cleaners had collected over 18 tonnes of waste, according to officials.

EU Member States Begin To Implement PV Recycling Rules

The UK and Bulgaria were the only EU member states to make the deadline set by the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requiring the application of photovoltaic (PV) module recycling regulations to national law.

Enacted in 2003 by the European Economic Community, the WEEE Directive sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electronic waste. In 2012, regulations for PV modules were added to the latest revision in the Directive.

Following the directive amendments, EU member states were given an 18-month implementation period to transpose the amendments into national law by the February 14, 2014 deadline. Although the UK and Bulgaria were the only countries to make the deadline, other countries are making progress towards meeting the directive requirements. In France, for instance, PV CYCLE France SAS was created to manage discarded PV modules under impending French WEEE laws. 

Investigation Ongoing Into Radiation Leak At Nuclear Waste Site

Following a radiation leak last month, air testing in New Mexico’s shut-down Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) nuclear waste site last week showed no detectable radioactive contamination. The cause of the radiation is still under investigation and the WIPP plans to send a team to investigate the leak as early as this weekend.

Due to an underground truck fire two weeks earlier, no workers were underground at the time of the leak. However, at least 17 workers were exposed to some radioactive particles. WIPP experts say the levels breathed in by the exposed employees were well below exposure limits and would not be a health risk. The WIPP is the only permanent storage facility for nuclear waste in the country. Prior to the radiation leak, the US Department of Energy was researching the possibility of adding more potent nuclear waste to the site.

Stories supplied and written by Sunanda Katragadda

New Litter Collection Rules for Mount Everest Climbers

A new rule issued by the Nepalese government requires trekkers of Mount Everest to return to the mountain base with 8kg of trash. The country’s Tourism Ministry stated that this rule was an effort to make climbers bring down the trash they generate. The Government did not detail the actions it would take to enforce this new rule.

Everest sustains Nepal’s tourism industry by earning the country millions of dollars in climbing fees and by supporting tourism businesses built around it. The rule was spurred by the amount of unsightly trash left on the mountain by trekkers. About 230,000 foreigners visited Nepal last year to trek the mountain.

The littering rules are part of a strategy by Nepal’s government to maintain the mountain while promoting its trekking industry. As part of this strategy, the government announced last month that it would be discounting fees for climbing Everest and other mountains.

Hong Kong To Invest $30bn In Waste Infrastructure

During his 2014/15 Budget Speech, Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang announced the city’s plans to invest about $30bn in waste recycling and treatment infrastructure. The investment includes provisions for organic waste treatment facilities, electronic waste processing facilities, and initiatives to promote recycling. The investment would also go to landfill expansion and waste incineration projects. While being deemed essential by the Government, these projects have been met with resistance due to environmental concerns.

This announcement came a week after the Environment Bureau presented a plan to handle food waste that outlined the city’s target of 40 percent food waste reduction by 2022. While introducing the plan, Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing, said: “Hong Kong is highly urbanised with a dense living environment in general, and the city has neither the potential… to absorb a lot of food waste nor large-scale infrastructure at present to treat food waste.”

Strike Ends, Clean Up Begins in Rio After Carnival

On Saturday the street sweepers from waste collection company, Comlurb, and the city of Rio de Janeiro reached an agreement on a pay rise for the sweepers. This concluded the eight-day strike that resulted in tonnes of rubbish left in the streets of the city during and after the Rio Carnival festival. The striking workers had complained of low wages and had threatened to strike during the FIFA World Cup finals in June if their demands were not met.

The agreement involved a 37 percent increase in the base salaries for the workers to 1,100 reais per month, as well as an increase in daily meals allowances. Rio mayor, Eduardo Paes, told local press that the agreement would cost the city about 400m reals (£102m). Street cleaning started immediately following the agreement and, as of Monday this week, the cleaners had collected over 18 tonnes of waste, according to officials.

EU Member States Begin To Implement PV Recycling Rules

The UK and Bulgaria were the only EU member states to make the deadline set by the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requiring the application of photovoltaic (PV) module recycling regulations to national law.

Enacted in 2003 by the European Economic Community, the WEEE Directive sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electronic waste. In 2012, regulations for PV modules were added to the latest revision in the Directive.

Following the directive amendments, EU member states were given an 18-month implementation period to transpose the amendments into national law by the February 14, 2014 deadline. Although the UK and Bulgaria were the only countries to make the deadline, other countries are making progress towards meeting the directive requirements. In France, for instance, PV CYCLE France SAS was created to manage discarded PV modules under impending French WEEE laws. 

Investigation Ongoing Into Radiation Leak At Nuclear Waste Site

Following a radiation leak last month, air testing in New Mexico’s shut-down Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) nuclear waste site last week showed no detectable radioactive contamination. The cause of the radiation is still under investigation and the WIPP plans to send a team to investigate the leak as early as this weekend.

Due to an underground truck fire two weeks earlier, no workers were underground at the time of the leak. However, at least 17 workers were exposed to some radioactive particles. WIPP experts say the levels breathed in by the exposed employees were well below exposure limits and would not be a health risk. The WIPP is the only permanent storage facility for nuclear waste in the country. Prior to the radiation leak, the US Department of Energy was researching the possibility of adding more potent nuclear waste to the site.

Stories supplied and written by Sunanda Katragadda