Bali's Waste: Repairing a House Already Ravaged by Termites

Behind its renowned landscapes, Bali is now plagued by a suffocating stench. The smell of rubbish is no longer confined to isolated corners but is slowly creeping into house yards, seeping into residential drains, and even flowing along water that is traditionally held sacred. Bali, long revered as an island of harmony through the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, is now facing a bitter reality that is hard to conceal: the waste crisis has become a tangible existential problem right before our eyes. Two decades ago, warnings about the waste threat might have sounded like utopian environmental discourse. But today, the time bomb has truly exploded. This is no longer merely an aesthetic issue. The most visible symbol of this collective failure stands tall in southern Bali: the Suwung Final Disposal Site (TPA). For decades, this 32-hectare site has served as a “giant carpet” where all waste problems are hidden. Every day, no less than 1,000 to 1,200 tons of rubbish from the Sarbagita metropolitan area (Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, and Tabanan) are dumped there. The rubbish is piled up to form mountains tens of metres high, now exceeding the natural capacity to bear it. Suwung is not just a disposal site; it is a silent witness to the failure of downstream management. Its track record is grim, with a series of fires caused by methane gas accumulation. The public surely has not forgotten the major fire in 2019 that blanketed the Denpasar area with toxic smoke. The crisis peaked in October 2023, when fire ravaged dozens of hectares for weeks, forcing an emergency response status and completely halting disposal activities. The government has not been without efforts. Before this crisis exploded, various normalisation measures had been taken, from landfilling with a controlled landfill system to closing waste cells for land revitalisation. Even as a transitional strategy ahead of the closure of the Suwung TPA, the government has built infrastructure for Integrated Waste Processing Sites (TPST) at several strategic points, such as TPST Kesiman Kertalangu, Tahura, and Padangsambian. However, the suboptimal operation of the TPSTs and the continuous flow of rubbish from the Sarbagita area without adequate processing at the source make these efforts feel like administering pain relief to a chronic illness.