Kali Beach in Bali has disposed of tons of plastic waste

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(CNN) – Tons of garbage were washed on the famous Kuta beach in Bali, causing locals to spend the first day of the new year organizing a cleanup.

Residents of the Indonesian island of Badung have removed 30 tons of marine debris from the beach, according to the state-run Antara news agency.

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

The trash was allegedly loaded onto trucks and transported to a landfill.

The plastic trash can and other marine debris are washed on Kuta beach every year during the monsoon season, said Wayan Puja, head of Badung’s Environment Bureau, Antara reported. The official blamed the problem of improper garbage management.

Workers are cleaning up piles of debris and plastic waste brought by strong waves on Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, on January 1, 2021.

Workers are cleaning up piles of debris and plastic waste brought by strong waves on Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia, on January 1, 2021.

Manufactured by 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 6 kg of plastic waste in its stomach.
In April, the Indonesian government launched a plan to dramatically reduce the country’s plastic waste, Antara reported. It plans to reduce ocean plastic waste by 70% by 2025 and eliminate plastic pollution by 2040.

Although Kuta Beach faces the problem every year, unlike in previous years, there are far fewer travelers who can see it. Like many popular destinations, Bali has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and remains closed to international tourists.

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

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

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