Bali Grapples With Rising Trash Problems: Is It Too Late For New Waste-To-Energy Facilities Close To Top Tourist Resorts?

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Bali’s issues with plastic waste and waste management are becoming of increasing concern for local residents, local business owners, tourists, and environmentalists.

The issue of waste management is a nationwide, even global, problem, but one that is felt especially hard on a small island like Bali. 

Bali has been creating new partnerships to establish a new Waste-to-Energy facility that will help to process the island’s waste into power. Bali is home to 4.2 million people, with more than 7.5 million international tourists visiting each year. The tourism and hospitality industry is noted as the largest waste contributor in the province’s business sector. 

There are many reasons Bali is struggling with waste management. The issue has increasingly hit the headlines over the last month as provincial leaders introduced legislation that prevented organic and mixed waste from being dumped at the island’s largest open landfill, known as the Suwung TPA. There have been plans to close Suwung TPA once and for all for more than five years, and though multiple attempts have been made, the open landfill site remains open.

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In the last month, some progress has been made, though not without consequence for local communities and tourists. The Suwung TPA has officially stopped receiving organic and mixed waste, which means that only ‘residual waste’, that which cannot be recycled, is entering the site.

This is proving to be a huge issue for local communities, as there is insufficient support for households and residential areas to process organic waste separately. With no mixed waste allowed at the landfill site and insufficient facilities for organic waste disposal and recycling, waste has been dumped illegally or left on streets in residential and tourist resort areas. 

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There has long been an issue with waste dumping in rivers and trash burning in Bali; in fact, it’s an issue that is seen all around Indonesia.

Since Suwung TPA has stopped receiving organic and mixed waste, there has been a notable increase in the amount of trash burning and illegal dumping of waste around Bali. Local NGO Sungai Watch has just finished its Run For Rivers awareness and fundraising run from Bali to Jakarta, in hopes of raising more awareness of the problem and calling for urgent action. 

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Leaders in Bali are taking action too, though many fear that progress is too slow. With the island’s residents and tourists already suffering as a result of the landfill closure just weeks ago, and with the new Waste-to-Energy facility not even constructed yet, questions are now being raised as to whether a solution can be found before it’s too late. 

 Earlier this month, Bali Governor Wayan Koster welcomed China’s Consul General in Denpasar, Zhang Zhisheng, to discuss the development of a Waste-to-Energy plant in the province.

Following the meeting, he confirmed that Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara had partnered with the Chinese company Zhejiang Weiming to carry out the project.

He told reporters, “I am directly leading the development process alongside the Badung district head and Denpasar mayor to ensure everything proceeds smoothly ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony planned for next July.” 

He added, “As this will be Bali’s first high-tech WtE plant, I am closely monitoring every stage. Construction is expected to take 15 months and finish by October 2027.”

Governor Koster explained that the power-generating facility would help Denpasar and Badung Regency, which is home to top destinations like Canggu and Uluwatu, address the waste processing problems while reinforcing Bali’s image as a clean, modern, world-class tourist destination. 

With Bali developing new urban areas like the Kura Kura Special Economic Zone, there is an even more urgent need to invest in an infrastructural overhaul in Bali.

Only time will tell if Bali can turn this situation around, for people and for the planet. Tourists traveling to Bali this high season must be prepared to see piles of trash, even burning waste in some areas. Though local leaders work around the clock to minimize the impact on the local community and tourists, some hotels are even taking matters into their own hands.