KKP and DANA Collaborate to Prevent Waste from Reaching the Sea

The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) is continuously striving to prevent waste, particularly plastic, from reaching the sea. Beyond deploying technology, collaboration to campaign about the dangers of waste and the importance of sorting it is being intensified among the public to tackle this issue at its source.

Director General of Marine Management at KKP, Koswara, stated that the dominant population of waste polluting the sea originates from land, especially household waste. Handling waste already in the sea is more difficult and requires greater costs. The presence of waste in the sea also threatens the sustainability of its ecosystems, both intact and those already broken down into microplastics. Therefore, Koswara continued, a shared responsibility is needed so that land-sourced waste does not end up in the ocean.

KKP has engaged three regional governments—the Provincial Governments of DKI Jakarta, East Nusa Tenggara, and Bali—to strengthen land-based waste management to prevent it from entering the sea. “Our strategy for managing waste so it does not enter the sea is carried out through prevention. We must be able to manage waste in our respective areas. And waste is a serious problem that must be handled together,” Koswara said at a beach clean-up event organised by KKP with DANA Indonesia at Petitenget Beach, Badung, Bali, on Saturday, 13 June 2026.

Koswara explained that KKP has initiated the Healthy Sea Free of Waste (Laut Sebasah) programme. This programme carries two strategies: preventing waste from entering the sea through four monitoring points, including major rivers that flow into the sea, coastal villages including the Merah Putih Fishermen’s Village, populated small islands, ports and activities at sea, and a strategy for handling waste already in the ocean.

The beach clean-up action involving Seven Clean Seas at Petitenget Beach was attended by hundreds of people, ranging from tourists, hospitality workers, to students, including dozens of cadets from KKP’s vocational schools. The waste collected was diverse, from snack food plastic packaging, glass bottles, organic waste, to cigarette butts.

“This is a form of our commitment. Previously we had conducted waste education through an app game that we launched, now this is the offline version through a beach clean-up action in collaboration with KKP,” said Director of Communications of DANA Indonesia, Olavina Harahap. Olavina said her party acknowledges that the waste problem can affect a country’s economy, thus requiring cooperation from all parties to solve it. “We received information that this waste pollution can reduce fishermen’s income by up to 30 percent. This will certainly also affect the digital economy,” she said.

Founder & CEO of Seven Clean Seas, Tom Peacock-Nazil, who was directly involved at the Petitenget Beach clean-up site, said waste pollution indeed needs to be handled wisely so as not to cause other problems. He cited the example that handling waste by burning it can result in health issues. Fortunately, the government has banned this practice, but on the other hand, there is an accumulation of non-recyclable waste. “I actually support the construction of a second final disposal site (TPA). That TPA can give us about 10 years of time. Within that time, we can build waste-to-energy facilities, attract investment, and cooperate with PLN. These steps can help solve this problem,” he said.