After volunteers cleared an astonishing 70 tonnes of rubbish from a Bali beach — described by one man as “the worst trash wave” he’d ever seen — an Australian travel expert has warned that without significant reductions in plastic use, such alarming scenes will become increasingly common.
This week, environmentalist Sam Bencheghib, alongside the team at Sungai Watch and additional volunteers, worked tirelessly to remove dozens of tonnes of garbage from Bali’s iconic Jimbaran Beach. Writing on social media, Bencheghib said “every day more trash” just kept “on coming”.
“We called to our community for help and Bali answered — 2,000 strong. We removed 70 tonnes of plastic from Jimbaran beach,” he said. “The cleanup is not over, but our hopes are high with the support of Bali behind us.”
Staggering images shows the true scale of the pollution pile-up, with the sand effectively unable to be seen over the mountains of waste. Managing Director at Australian Traveller Media Quentin Long specialises in Indonesian affairs. He spoke to Yahoo News Australia and said travellers need to reduce their plastic waste, or risk becoming part of the problem.
Jimbaran Beach is a popular spot among both travellers and locals. But it could hardly been seen beneath the mountains of waste. Source: Instagram/sambencheghib
‘Huge waste epidemic’ destroying coastlines around the globe
Long said that while in this instance, recent monsoons and extreme weather significantly exacerbated the situation, with currents bringing in rubbish from the sea. But, “the rubbish has to be in the ocean in the first place”.
“There’s two things going on, one is that you do have seasonal weather patterns and tidal patterns that mean that you get a lot more waste getting washed up on the beaches,” Long told Yahoo News Australia.
“But these things, the objects, have got to be there in the sea in the first place. There is a huge waste epidemic going through Bali and that does end up in the waters around the island, that then seasonally end up on the beaches.
“It’s generally acknowledged as a pretty big problem that they have to manage, and there’s a real focus now on how to deal with waste when it comes to Bali and generally in terms of the tourism impact.”
Before and after at Jimbaran. Source: Instagram/sambencheghib
Why is so much garbage ending up on our beaches?
Ocean currents and pollution are major contributors to the accumulation of rubbish on beaches worldwide, with Bali and northern Australia among the worst affected regions.
Strong currents in the Indonesian Throughflow — a key marine passage connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans — carry debris from across Southeast Asia, depositing it on Bali’s beaches, including popular spots like Kuta and Jimbaran.
Seasonal monsoons worsen the problem, pushing waves of plastic and other waste ashore.
In northern Australia, the Gulf of Carpentaria is a hotspot for marine debris. The region collects rubbish from nearby countries, such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, due to prevailing currents. Ghost nets— discarded fishing gear —pose a severe threat, trapping marine life like turtles and fish.
Efforts to tackle the issue in both regions include community clean-ups and international collaboration to reduce pollution at its source. However, experts warn that without significant global action to curb plastic use and improve waste management, these problems will persist.
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