Hundreds of volunteers joined a clean-up in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday as monsoon rains brought what an activist described as “the worst” waves of plastic waste to hit its tourist-favoured beaches.
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The Southeast Asian nation is one of the world’s biggest contributors of plastic pollution and marine debris, with annual monsoon rains and winds sweeping mountains of plastic waste from its cities and rivers into the ocean.
Some of it drifts hundreds of kilometres before washing up on the beaches on the holiday island – especially between November and March.
Across Kedonganan beach in the south of the island, plastic cups, straws, cutlery, and empty coffee sachets were scattered across the sand, mixed with plant and wood debris.
Around 600 volunteers, including local residents, hospitality workers, and tourists, braved a rainy morning to pick up the waste by hand before filling hundreds of large sacks.
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The Environmental NGO Sungai Watch called it “the worst” plastic waste pollution to wash ashore in Bali.