Bali’s Kuta beach cleans tons of plastic waste

Bali’s Kuta beach cleans tons of plastic waste

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(CNN) – Tons of garbage fell on Bali’s famous Kuta Beach, prompting residents to spend the first day of the year cleaning up.

Residents in the Badung area of ​​the Indonesian island removed 30 tons of marine debris from the beach, according to state news agency Antara.

“About 70% of marine debris is plastic waste,” Colonel Made Mahaparta, of the Udayana Regional Military Command, told Antara.

The garbage was reportedly loaded onto trucks and transported to a landfill.

Plastic garbage and other marine debris are thrown on Kuta beach every year during the monsoon season, said the head of the Badung Environment Office, Wayan Puja, reported Antara. The official attributed the problem to poor waste management.

Workers clean up piles of rubble and plastic waste brought by strong waves at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, on January 1, 2021.

Workers clean up piles of rubble and plastic waste brought by strong waves at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, on January 1, 2021.

Made Nagi / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Plastic pollution is a serious problem in Indonesia. In November 2018, a dead whale was found near Kapota Island in Wakatobi National Park, near Sulawesi, with 13.2 pounds (6 kg) of plastic waste in its stomach.
In April, the Indonesian government launched a plan to drastically reduce plastic waste in the country, Antara reported. It plans to reduce ocean plastic waste by 70% by 2025 and become pollution-free by plastic by 2040.

Although Kuta Beach faces the problem annually, unlike previous years, far fewer travelers are around to see it at the moment. Like many popular destinations, Bali has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and remains closed to international tourists.

During an interview in August 2020, Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, Bali’s vice governor and former president of the island’s hotel and restaurant association, told CNN Travel that the reopening is critical to the island’s economy.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is the most devastating disaster for Bali’s tourism,” he said. “It is much worse than the Bali attacks, both the first and the second, and worse than all the eruptions of Mount Agung combined.”

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