Asia's most beautiful island cleans up massive plastic waste on beaches

By VNA January 5, 2025 | 04:58 pm PT

Plastic waste and other garbage is cleared from a beach in Kedonganan Badung regency on Indonesia's Bali island. Photo by AFP

Around 600 volunteers, including locals, hotel staff and tourists, gathered on beaches in Indonesia's resort island Bali, voted the most beautiful island in Asia, to clean up massive plastic waste washed ashore by monsoon rains on recent days.

At Kedonganan Beach in southern Bali, plastic cups, straws, cutlery, and empty coffee sachets were scattered across the sand, mixed with plant debris and wood.

Braving the rain, volunteers collected trash by hand, filling hundreds of large sacks.

Environmental NGO Sungai Watch described the event as Bali's worst plastic pollution incident.

According to founder Gary Bencheghib, they collected a 25 tonnes of waste in just six days, a record for them. Most of the plastic waste originates from Java, the country's most populous island.

Indonesia is among the world's largest contributors to plastic and marine pollution, with annual monsoons sweeping plastic waste from cities and rivers into the ocean.

Much of this debris travels hundreds of kilometers before landing on Bali's popular beaches, particularly from November to March.

Bali was recognized as the most beautiful island in Asia by readers of the American magazine Condé Nast Traveler in its Readers' Choice Awards.

It welcomed 6.3 million foreign visitors between January and December last year, up 19.5% year-on-year and surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to the Bali Provincial Tourism Office.