Piles of Rubbish on Tabanan Streets Sorted at DLH Office

Dozens of lorries lined up at the Tabanan Environmental Office (DLH) in Bongan Village, Tabanan, Bali, this afternoon. The lorries queued to deliver tonnes of unsorted waste.

The rubbish transported by these lorries is the overflow from residents’ piles that had accumulated on the main roads of Tabanan town. For the time being, the area behind the Tabanan DLH office has been repurposed as the Singasana Waste Bank.

“So the rubbish isn’t just shifted here but sorted at the Singasana Waste Bank,” said Acting Head of Tabanan DLH, I Gusti Agung Rai Dwipayana, on Wednesday (6/5/2026).

Efforts to handle the piled-up rubbish on the protocol roads had actually been carried out through the Ngayah Ring Pertiwi activity on Tuesday (5/5). The activity involved hundreds of civil servants, TNI/Polri personnel, as well as village and sub-district officials in Tabanan.

However, the sorting of rubbish at the activity site was not optimal. As a result, the piles of rubbish were eventually moved to the back of the DLH office for further sorting.

Rai Dwipayana explained that hundreds of DLH personnel were deployed to sort the rubbish brought by the dozens of lorries. Subsequently, organic waste will be channelled to the Sarwa Genep TPSR. Meanwhile, inorganic waste is planned to be taken to the Nyitdah waste bank in Kediri Sub-district.

“We don’t want any rubbish other than residue to enter the Mandung landfill,” added Rai Dwipayana.

Rai Dwipayana acknowledged that public awareness in Tabanan for sorting rubbish remains low. Therefore, for the time being, Tabanan DLH is only transporting rubbish from protocol roads to the Singasana Waste Bank for sorting first.

Meanwhile, for rubbish in market areas, the guarding system is said to be already in place. “Public awareness is very important. If the rubbish disposed is already residue, it will definitely be collected immediately. Let’s all sort together because this requires a process and mutual cooperation,” he concluded.

Previously, organic and mixed rubbish was seen piling up along the main roads of Tabanan for several days. Videos of the rows of piled-up rubbish went viral on social media and were said to tarnish the town’s aesthetics.

Tabanan Deputy Regent, I Made Dirga, stated that the uncollected rubbish was due to residents not sorting it. He assured that sorted rubbish leaving only residue would be collected by Tabanan DLH lorries to the Mandung landfill.

“The SE (circular letter) has been socialised. Let’s sort the rubbish. This must be done together. If it’s already sorted and only residue remains, it will definitely be collected,” Dirga emphasised.