Introduction to Bali’s Garbage Crisis
For many tourists, Bali conjures up pictures of white sandy beaches, crystal clear water, expansive rice fields and lush, dense jungle – but reality in many areas is very different. The popular island suffered from a garbage crisis for a long time, with the waste of the tourist hotspot beaches of Kuta, Seminyak, Legian and Jimbaran washed from October to March.
The Annual Phenomenon
It is an annual phenomenon in which plastic, garbage and waste of shipping ships are often carried with strong winds, weddings and drive rain in land. The open landfills of the island are also a big problem. When you get full, put pressure on local waste disposal. The garbage is then tilted into the waterways and unloaded in unofficial landfolter, often on the edges of some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in Bali.
Implementing Solutions
Officials have implemented solutions, and although some had an impact, others have fallen flat. However, some may not know that in the past two years, beach robots have been tested by large hotel brands in some of the best resorts of the island. Now local managers share their hopes that this High-Tech-Hoovers could help change the way in which the most popular beaches of the island are maintained.
The Beach Cleaning Robot Bebot
Alit Sucipta, the deputy regent, visited the tourist hotspot Finns Beach Club in Canggu to officially launch the Beach Beach Beach Cleaning Robot Bebot. The robot worth around 65,000 USD has been located in the Beach Club for three months. On Tuesday, however, local managers came together to discuss the future of beach management in the busiest tourism resort of Bali. "If you look at what we have seen, this is a point of reference that we have to study," said the deputy regent Sucipta to reporters.
The Potential of the Robot
He explained, while seeing the potential in it, the robot is not yet able to maximize its performance. "Perhaps we can use the same robot machine in the future, but with a larger capacity so that you can collect other types of waste," he added. He hopes that other companies will follow the example and invest in similar technologies to combat the island’s waste problem. According to reports, the solar-powered robot worked 2.5 hours a day and was able to clear 180 meters from Berawa Beach and Perancak Beach.
Progress and Goals
"Since this step, we have managed to reduce waste from 80 percent to 20 percent, based on the audit of last year," said Wayan Asrama, director of Pta Pantai Semara Nusantara (Finn’s Beach Club). "But it is not yet finished there, by the end of 2025 our goal is only 5 percent of the waste to get to the landfill." It comes when the provincial government of Bali confirmed that the Sukung TPA, Bali’s largest open landfill, is officially closed.
Efforts to Tackle Waste
Environmental NGOs such as Mudfish No Plastic and Sungai Watch have also made great efforts to tackle illegal landfolter and beach plastic and create new systems to recycle and reverse inorganic waste. Gary Bencheghib, a French filmmaker living in Indonesia, is part of Sungai Watch, a team that is devoted to the "protection of the waterways in Indonesia". The non-profit organization revealed that 1,053,270 kg of waste was collected in 2024, 503 cleaning was organized and 104 garbage barriers were installed. "This brings our overall collection to 2,796,360 kg of waste, overall organized clean-up work of 1,628 and 330 barriers, since we started cleaning rivers 4 years ago in 2020," they said in a report.
