Sungai Watch: Indonesian Organization Installs Their 100th Trash Barrier Protecting Bali’s Rivers, Preventing Plastic From Going Into The Ocean
On Friday, August 20th, 2021, Sungai Watch, an Indonesian environmental organization will be installing their 100th trash barrier in Bali, Indonesia. Sungai Watch’s trash barriers are a simple but effective technology to stop plastic pollution from going into the ocean.
Sungai Watch, who placed their first barrier in October 2020, had made it their goal to install 100 of their trash barriers on Bali’s rivers and have achieved their goal in less than a year.
Sungai Watch installs multiple trash barriers per river to better understand flaws in local waste management infrastructure and identify where illegal TPAs (landfills) are located. They also organize mass education and socialization campaigns with local communities to prevent throw-away behaviors and find solutions to single-use plastics.
A big part of Sungai Watch’s success has been their approach to involve the local community. Sungai Watch believes that clean rivers start with community, and they select and empower Sungai Warriors in every river where they implement new trash barriers.
Since starting their operation in October 2020, Sungai watch has collected 650,000 kg of plastic.
Around 90% of plastic in the ocean originates from rivers. Indonesia is second only to China as the world’s largest contributor of this kind of waste to the ocean plastic problem.
Bali, Indonesia — On Friday August 20th, 2021, Sungai Watch, will be installing their 100th trash barrier protecting rivers and stopping plastic pollution from going into the ocean.
Since launching in October 2020, Sungai Watch has experimented with 8 different models of trash barriers and they have identified 3 successful models that they have implemented throughout Bali. The 100 trash barriers that they have installed include a variety of those 4 models.
Sungai Watch hires 50 people on Bali, including a patrol team who go out and clean all 100 barriers every single day. Once the trash is collected from their trash barriers, the trash is brought to one of their 3 warehouses spread out throughout Bali. In their warehouses, Sungai Watch sorts the trash into 15 categories/materials, they wash the trash, shred it and are experimenting with turning it into valuable products.
Sungai Watch is now on a mission to build their trash barriers from 100% recycled plastic collected rivers in Bali. They are also on a mission to expand outside of Bali into Java and by 2025, their goal is to implement a trash barrier in every Indonesian river.
IG: @Sungaiwatch