By deploying simple barrier technologies, running daily cleanup operations, sorting and recycling plastic, and engaging local communities, they are tackling one of the world’s most urgent waste crises in real time.
The challenge: plastic pollution in Indonesia
Indonesia is the world’s second-largest ocean-plastic polluter. An estimated 80% of marine plastic comes from rivers, where unmanaged waste is pushed downstream by floods and monsoon rain before dispersing into the open ocean.
The absence of effective waste management infrastructure across many municipalities means even everyday household waste ends up in rivers. Once in the ocean, recovery is near impossible. Stopping plastic upstream is therefore both a practical and a high impact intervention.
Sungai Watch’s approach to preventing plastic pollution
Sungai Watch designs, installs and maintains river barriers and runs daily clean-up operations to capture waste before it enters the sea. The organisation also sorts, audits and recycles material and advocates for stronger regulation.
Key achievements to date (correct at October 2025) include:
- – 3,754,000+ kg of plastic waste removed from rivers
- – 2,500 kg of waste collected per day on average
- – 170 full time local River Warriors employed
- – 386 rivers cleaned and monitored daily (growing weekly)
- – 12 sorting facilities operating
- – 22,000+ community members engaged
- – All waste sorted into 30+ material streams; 55% currently recycled
Programmes in focus: how the workflow works
- – Cleaning: Barriers are cleaned and heavily polluted hotspots tackled through daily manual cleanups across 226+ rivers.
- – Sorting: All waste is brought to 10 regional sorting hubs, building local waste management capacity.
- – Brand Audit: Materials and brands in the collected waste are recorded to provide data to government and advocate for stronger policies regarding plastics and waste.
- – Recycling Prep: Waste is washed, shredded and prepped; 55% is recyclable with existing capabilities.
- – Recycling & Upcycling: Through Sungai Design, collected plastic is turned into saleable products to fund further cleanups.
How Explorations Company supports Sungai Watch
We have partnered with Sungai Watch as part of our 2025–2026 Impact Programme and have fully funded a large trash barrier in the Kuta Utara region of Bali, which includes its complete operation – installation, maintenance, waste collection and processing.
This has been a success, and in just the first 50 days of operation it has collected 72.55 kg of non-organic waste, which was captured, sorted and responsibly recycled. We have helped prevented waste from entering the ocean during peak runoff events, and partially supported the wages of between 11 and 16 full-time team members.
This partnership extends our Impact commitment into urgent marine conservation work in a region many of our travellers know well.
Progress update from Sungai Watch — October 2025
So far in 2025, Sungai Watch have collected 286,014 kg of waste, cleaned 302 locations, and welcomed 4,444 volunteers who joined cleanups and programmes across Indonesia. 10 new barriers were installed this year, with record breaking catches in August and September due to extreme rainfall events.
In September 2025, flash floods across Bali sent unprecedented volumes of waste downstream. Sungai Watch deployed emergency teams who cleared debris under hazardous conditions, assisted residents, then led one of the largest post-storm cleanups of the year. Hundreds of volunteers joined in the following days to repair barriers, clear riverbanks and prevent thousands of kilograms of debris reaching the ocean.
What’s next for Sungai Watch
Sungai Watch is expanding teams and infrastructure to scale their impact.
- – Growth of community based collection teams
- – Continued deepening of work in Java
- – Expansion of barriers across new high-impact river systems
- – Scaling of waste-to-product models to sustain operations
How can Explorations Company guests engage with Sungai Watch on their holiday to Bali?
Depending on travel plans and operational permissions, Explorations Company guests may be able to observe a barrier in action, visit a sorting facility or join a structured cleanup day led by Sungai Watch. Engagements are arranged with consideration for safety, seasonality and community impact.
Why this matters
Most marine-plastic mitigation happens at the end of the problem – at sea. Sungai Watch intervenes upstream, where plastic can still be captured, catalogued and transformed. Their work improves water systems, protects coastal ecosystems and drives policy change with credible data. Our partnership with Sungai Watch is part of how Explorations Company links travel with making a positive impact on the environmental, protecting our most-loved natural places. To find out more, please feel free to get in touch with our specialists who are on hand to assist.
