DENPASAR, BALI – Dompet Dhuafa Volunteer (DDV) Bali, Dompet Dhuafa Bali, and the Disaster Management Center (DMC) organized a waste audit event titled ‘Garbage Encirclement’ at Padang Galak Beach, Kesiman Petilan, in the East Denpasar District of Denpasar, Bali, on Sunday (24/9/2023).
Hundreds of participants from various sectors, including civilians, communities, organizations, and government institutions, participated in the Garbage Encirclement initiative. Before the activity began, participants were divided into several groups based on the types of waste they would collect.
“Our process involves gathering, sorting, and recording the types of waste along with their brands,” said Nur Kholis Abdillah, the Chair of the Voluntrip Waste Summit Bali Committee and PIC of DDV Bali.
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“The organic waste will be sent to landfills, while recyclable materials will be delivered to the waste bank in the Sesetan area,” he added.
Following the sorting and weighing of the waste, an audit was conducted.
“We collected a total of 287 kilograms of waste, including single-layer and multi-layer types like sachet packaging for coffee, noodles, and other items,” stated Ika Akmala from Dompet Dhuafa’s Community and Volunteers division.
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“This audit will result in a public report detailing the types of waste found in Indonesian tourist destinations. We hope this report will lay the groundwork for policy changes favoring better waste management in Indonesia and prompt concrete actions from the companies producing this waste,” Ika explained.
According to a 2017 study by the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and Danone-Aqua, as reported in the Bappeda Litbang journal, Bali produces 268 tons of plastic waste daily, with only 29.4% being disposed of in landfills. Meanwhile, 44.5% of the plastic waste either remains untreated or pollutes the environment, affecting everything from rivers to the sea.
Separately, Liputan 6 reported data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which indicates that 80% of marine pollution is attributed to plastic waste, with 8-14 metric tons of plastic ending up in the sea each year. This staggering figure is in addition to the 50-75 trillion pieces of plastic and microplastics found in the oceans.
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Microplastics are fine particles resulting from the degradation of plastic waste. There is also the term ‘microbeads,’ referring to tiny particles made of plastic, commonly found in skincare products.
“Many thanks for the cooperation that has contributed to environmental preservation,” expressed Muhammad Husin, a member of the waste collection team from the Denpasar City Environment and Sanitation Office. (Dompet Dhuafa/DMC/AFP)