Bali Tourism Contributes Significantly to Waste Generation, BRIN Highlights the Importance of Data Strengthening and Source-Based Management
- Jun 8
- 2 min read
The tourism sector in Bali has been shown to significantly contribute to waste generation, stemming not only from tourist activities but also from the operations of hotels, restaurants, tourist areas, and landscape maintenance. During the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) of the study Assessing Plastic Use and Pollution within the Tourism Sector in Indonesia, BRIN Research Professor M. Reza Cordova emphasized that the main challenge lies not only in limited infrastructure but also in weak data systems and inconsistent waste management at the source. More than 50 percent of Bali’s waste generation is concentrated in Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, and Tabanan, with organic waste such as food scraps and green waste dominating the composition. However, the potential for organic waste treatment through composting, maggot cultivation, or collaboration with local waste processors remains underutilized, while the continued high use of single-use plastics in the tourism sector poses environmental risks, including marine pollution.
The study, coordinated by the National Coordination Team for Marine Debris Management (TKN PSL) together with the Ministry of Environment (KLH) and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and UNDP, underscores the importance of data integration and multi-stakeholder involvement. This includes small-scale tourism businesses such as villas and homestays, which are numerous but not yet systematically documented. TKN PSL considers strengthened data collection crucial for evidence-based policy interventions and calls for a shift from downstream-focused approaches to source-based management through waste sorting, reduction of single-use plastics, and optimization of organic waste processing. The study’s findings are expected to serve as the foundation for an integrated tourism waste management roadmap, ensuring that the tourism sector becomes not only an economic driver but also part of the solution to national waste reduction and environmental protection efforts.
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