How Bali Luxury Hotels Are Solving $40M Trash Problem

The bucket list destination has been seeing literal waves of plastic wash up on its shores—and it’s up to the tourism industry to clean it up.

Visitors among the debris and rubbish washed ashore at Bali’s Kuta Beach.

Photographer: Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images

Over a six-week period this spring, the Indonesian nongovernmental organization Sungai Watch collected more than 40 tons, or 80,000 pounds, of trash from Bali’s Jimbaran Bay—traditionally a bucket list paradise known for its grilled seafood restaurants, surf break and idyllic Four Seasons Resort.

The magnitude surprised nobody on-site. Tsunamis of trash like this have become a recurring issue: They wash over from neighboring Java, the world’s most populous island, during monsoon season each year. But as tourism roars back post-pandemic, global awareness of the issue is soaring thanks to viral videos on social media and a flurry of news coverage. “When you have an entire coastline covered with plastic, it is a giant crisis,” says Gary Bencheghib, 28, one of three French-born, Bali-raised siblings who founded Sungai Watch in 2020.