Bali plastic pollution: 'Garbage emergency' declared as beaches covered in waste

For decades the Indonesian island of Bali has been a byword for tropical paradise, with tourists flocking from across the world to its perfect beaches.

But now the island has declared a "garbage emergency" after its most popular tourist beaches were inundated with a rising tide of plastic waste.

A 5.7-km stretch of beach on the island's western coast was declared an emergency zone last month after authorities realised that the volume of plastic being washed up was endangering the tourist trade.

Workers sent to Jimbaran, Kuta and Seminyak beaches, among the island's busiest, were reportedly carting off up to 100 tons of rubbish each day at the peak of the clean-up, AFP news agency reported. Plastic pollution on Bali has soared in recent years, becoming a major concern for visitors and residents.

"It is awful. People just don't care, it's everywhere, it's everywhere," said Gulang, a hotel worker who declined to give his second name. "The government does something but it is really just a token thing," he said.

He said much of the pollution on Bali is down to habitual fly-tipping that sees rubbish carried out to sea during the rainy season and blamed much of the problem on the indifference of many islanders to the issue. But he added that municipal refuse management is inadequate. He often resorts to using waste disposal facilities at the hotels where he works for domestic rubbish.

The island's government has made some moves to tackle the issue. Last year the island said it would aim to ban polythene bags by 2018, following a campaign launched by two school girls and endorsed by celebrities including Mick Fanning, the Australian surfing champion.

But it also sits in one of the most polluted areas of sea in the world, and much of what arrives on its beaches comes from other parts of the heavily polluted Java Sea.

Indonesia is the second biggest plastic polluter in the world after China.