Indonesia’s struggle to clear “the most polluted river in the world”

Wida Widiarti spent her life near the Citarum River on the main island of Indonesia.

This means she has witnessed first-hand how rivers have changed from important lifelines to disgusting symbols of extreme environmental pollution.

Over and over again Citi is described in the report as “the most polluted river in the world.”

“People cleaned it up, but the garbage came back anyway,” said Widriarty, who lives near Bandung.

Surrounded by mountains, rice fields and volcanoes, Java’s metropolis is about 100 kilometers southeast of Jakarta and is a popular destination for tourists, but like many parts of Southeast Asia, a large amount of waste problems lurks under picturesque surfaces.

Widiarti and her young daughter stood on the bank, watching the muddy water, spreading plastic bottles, damaged flip flops and other barely recognizable garbage.

Some months are worse than others, she said. Sometimes, the water is almost completely covered with waste. “Even in better times, Citi will never get rid of the trash,” she said.

root cause

Indonesia is considered the world’s second largest plastic polluter in the ocean, second only to China and many other countries in the region, and has a huge waste problem.

This is partly due to rapid population growth, large-scale tourism and the growing plastic waste, insufficient waste separation and lack of recycling infrastructure.

Meanwhile, many locals simply discard garbage in rural areas – not only because of lack of environmental awareness, but also because of no working waste collection services.

But, as well-known American environmentalist Annie Leonard once said, “There is no ‘leave’ or something. When we throw anything away, it has to go somewhere.”

Export to Europe?

The garbage transported from Europe to Southeast Asia has also contributed to this problem.

According to Germany’s Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), Germany alone exports 732,000 tons of plastic waste to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam from Germany alone.

Despite environmentalists, the fact is that “the inspection and recycling infrastructure in the destination country is often insufficient”, meaning that garbage is actually rarely recycled.

Instead, most of the waste exported in Europe ends up incinerators and landfills or illegally dumped, including at sea, Nab said.

Bali and Thailand are also affected

The waste problem in Indonesia has also expanded to Bali’s tourist hotspot, a neighboring Java island known for its once pristine beaches.

But anyone who visits these beaches, especially during the rainy season, will soon feel that this is not a paradise for sale.

Tons of waste ashore ashore every year on the Bali coast – a large part of the local source, as well as waste from other islands transported by ocean currents.

Swimmers frolicking in the waves, disposable packaging, straws, polystyrene and plastic cups piled up on the beach.

The situation in Thailand is similar, and some vacationers are frightened and find that they have washed a lot of garbage on world-renowned islands, including Koh Samui and Phuket.

Landfills and garbage collections are inadequate, and only work well in larger cities such as Bangkok, forcing locals to illegally dump waste, sometimes just a few meters away from five-star hotels.

Industrial waste

The 290-km Citi River winds through the heart of West Java and then eventually discharges to the Java Sea on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

It provides drinking water, irrigation and hydropower to nearly 30 million people, including Jakarta residents, a 2-hour drive away.

Pollution dates back to the 1980s, when the region developed into an industrial hub. According to a 2018 Greenpeace report, countless textile factories poured in on the river bank, draining untreated waste, including heavy metals, dyes and microplastics, into the water.

‘fragrantCloth‘

The report said that a total of about 2,700 chemicals discarded by medium and large companies caused contamination by Citi.

Indonesian government survey in 2018 found that as many as 340,000 tons of hazardous waste enter the river every day, covering water black and toxic foam somewhere until today.

The rapid growth of urban population has exacerbated the problem, as a flood of household waste, especially single-use plastic, is pouring into the river every day.

To control the situation, then-President Joko Widodo launched an ambitious cleanup campaign called “Citarum Harum”, which translates to “Fragrance Flag” to make the river water drink again within seven years.

Seven years later…

Now, these seven years have passed – the campaign has produced different results.

While water quality is usually improved due to new sewage treatment plants, environmental activists warn that many plants continue to drain their toxic wastewater into the river, especially under cover at night.

The toxic leak of rotting waste in the province’s largest landfill site also ended up in Citi, according to a 2023 study.

Meanwhile, the garbage carpet remains. Just last year, Citi’s photos and videos spread, showing officials on the boat a boat trying to clean up a large pile of garbage, which is estimated to stretch for 3 kilometers and weigh about 100 tons.

A vicious cycle made of plastic

However, garbage is constantly installed, especially as residents are forced to buy bottled water because they cannot access clean drinking water.

“The situation is still shocking,” Daru Setyorini, an environmentalist at the Indonesian group Ecoton, told DPA.

She said the government no longer simply fishes garbage out of the river and should stop it from getting there first. “Citi cannot be kept with separate cleaning measures.”

“If we don’t address the root cause and regulate the industry, educate the population and move to sustainable waste management, then Citi will continue to have trouble,” she said.