Antarctic junk worries Japanese

JAPANESE researchers in Antarctica are getting serious about cleaning up the 50 years of rubbish piled up at their base.

Building materials, cast-off snow vehicles and fuel drums have collected at the research base since the first expedition was launched in 1956. By 1998, the rubbish weighed about 500 tons and research teams began to clear it.

Japan’s Science Ministry hopes to send the remaining 337 tons home within four years, ministry official Suguru Suzuki said.