Waste problems bring hotels, NGOs together

By I Wayan Juniarta

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Hotels and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are cooperating to save the environment of the paradise island of Bali.

The rapid development of tourism in Bali has caused serious environmental problems to the once beautiful and serene island.

The operation of hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities draws huge foreign exchange and provide job opportunities to the locals, yet it also creates troubles.

Mountainous piles of plastic, paper and other solid and liquid waste dumped by hotels and restaurants must be managed properly.

Some hotels have set up a cooperation with an environmental foundation, the Wisnu Foundation, and a waste-treatment company, the UD Jimbaran Lestari, to deal with the waste problems using cheap and environmentally friendly methods.

"Our concept emphasizes waste as a resource instead of waste as waste," said Suarnatha, a staff member of the Wisnu Foundation.

Currently, the foundation is jointly working with UD Jimbaran Lestari and several hotels in Bali, including the Bali Inter- Continental, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton Nusa Indah, Sheraton Laguna, Bali-Hyatt, Holiday Inn Resort Bali Hai, Oberoi, Hard Rock Beach Club, Hilton and Sanur Beach Hotel.

The foundation is also active in training and hosting workshops for small-scale waste-treatment companies and staff of hotels and restaurants who want to learn about this method.

"The foundation has provided us with knowledge and the latest information on effective waste-treatment management," said Ni Made Seni, director of UD Jimbaran Lestari.

Every day, UD Jimbaran Lestari employs six trucks to transport waste and garbage from the hotels to the company's 8,000 square- meter dumping site in Jimbaran.

At the site, 44 employees sort the dry waste from the wet. They also put aside items such as cardboard boxes, aluminum cans, plastics and others, which can be recycled.

They later deliver the items to be recycled to several companies in Jakarta and Surabaya (East Java).

"We often find reusable goods and return them to the hotels," explained Seni.

Wet waste is delivered to several farms, while dry leaves and twigs are composted. The company is able to produce three tons of compost a month, which is returned to the hotels to fertilize their gardens of various plants and flowers.

The method can reduce the amount of waste to 40 percent of the previous amount. About 60 percent of the processed waste can still be used by hotels or other industries.

"We can recycle 53 percent of the wet waste, while we can process 68 percent of the dry waste," explained Yoga Atmaja, a staff member of the Wisnu Foundation.

The hotels have worked hard to arouse their staff's environmental consciousness and to launch more environmentally friendly hotel-operating systems.

Tya Singgih, the communications manager of Bali Inter- Continental, said the hotel was committed to improving its waste management system and other energy saving efforts.

The 425-room Bali Inter-Continental is one of the first hotels which set up a joint agreement with the Wisnu Foundation.

"In purchasing food and beverages, we also decided to use less plastic bags to prevent a lot of waste," said Tya.

To clean the beach at the back of the hotel, two cows, Dayang I and Dayang II, are ready to replace the tractor.

"We use the cows to prevent oil spills from polluting the beach area," she explained.

In cooperation with the Wisnu Foundation and local communities, the Bali Inter-Continental is also involved in the preservation of green turtles, a regreening program and environmental education for 1000 school students at 13 elementary schools in the Jimbaran area.

Currently, there are 1,022 hotels in Bali producing at least 168.7 cubic meters of solid and liquid waste every day.

It seems Bali needs more foundations, hotel management and individuals to set up a joint cooperation to deal with waste and environmental problems.

The environmentally friendly waste treatment package costs only Rp 1000 (15 U.S. cents) per hotel room. It may not be so expensive if we think about protecting the environment.