By Cahyo Kurniawan | FMPL Project Manager and Coordinator
Gili’s Waste Crisis
Sometimes, despite years of hard work, dedication and determination, it feels like we are moving backwards instead of forwards.
This is one of those moments for our waste management project on Gili Trawangan.
For years, FMPL has worked tirelessly to collect, sort, recycle and manage the waste generated by our small island. We have built recycling initiatives, developed glass upcycling, improved collection systems and worked towards a more sustainable future.
But today, we are facing a situation that is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
Our landfill is reaching its limits. Within weeks, FMPL may have nowhere left to dispose of the island’s residual waste.
Three incinerators have been installed, representing an important potential step towards reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. Yet they remain unusable while the necessary technical and regulatory issues are unresolved.
Meanwhile, the new waste management system we worked so hard to develop has not been fully implemented.
Our proposal was simple: separate organic waste, recyclables, glass and residual waste at the source. Introduce realistic collection fees to cover the true costs of operating the system, employ additional workers, improve processing and transport, and stop collecting waste that has not been properly separated.
Unfortunately, resistance to increased collection fees, combined with insufficient government support for implementation, has prevented these changes from moving forward as planned.
And so, every day, mixed waste continues to arrive.
Organic waste is still mixed with plastics and other materials, making recycling and treatment more difficult, more expensive and less effective.
We have also recently launched an initiative asking local businesses to contact their beverage suppliers and request the return of empty glass bottles, including water, beer and other drinks. These bottles could potentially be collected, cleaned and reused rather than accumulating on our island.
We shared a video and a template letter to help businesses take action. So far, the response has been disappointing.
It is heartbreaking because many of the solutions are already within reach, but they require collective responsibility and a willingness to change.
What would we do if we had the resources?
Imagine what we could achieve with a major investment in proper waste management infrastructure.
We could establish a fully functioning island-wide separation system, with clear rules, fair and sustainable fees, adequate staffing, and consistent enforcement supported by local authorities.
We could expand composting, recycling and glass recovery, improve collection and transport, and ensure that businesses and households take responsibility for separating their waste.
We would also like to investigate suitable technologies, including carefully assessed plastic pyrolysis systems, which may allow certain non-recyclable plastics to be converted into usable fuel, subject to technical, environmental and regulatory feasibility.
And perhaps most importantly, we dream of beginning landfill mining: carefully excavating and processing the waste that has accumulated over the years, recovering what can be recovered and progressively reducing the enormous mountain of rubbish rather than watching it grow.
Of course, these solutions require significant investment, environmental safeguards, technical expertise, permits and long-term operating funding.
But the possibilities exist. What we lack is the financial capacity and coordinated commitment to put them into practice.
Waste management cannot be FMPL’s responsibility alone
Our team continues to work every day, collecting waste and doing everything possible with the limited resources available.
But we cannot solve this crisis alone.
Waste management is a shared responsibility between residents, businesses, suppliers, visitors and government authorities.
Every bottle returned to a supplier, every bag of organic waste separated correctly, every business willing to participate and every authority willing to support meaningful change makes a difference.
We cannot keep asking the people collecting the rubbish to solve a problem that begins long before the rubbish reaches them.
We are not giving up
Today, I am sharing our frustration because I believe our supporters deserve to know the reality on the ground.
We have not lost our vision of a cleaner, more sustainable Gili Trawangan.
We still believe in a future where organic waste becomes compost, valuable materials are recovered, bottles are reused, residual waste is safely treated, and our landfill finally begins to shrink.
But we are running out of time.
To everyone who has supported this project over the years, thank you. Your contributions have helped keep essential waste services and environmental initiatives going, even during the most difficult periods.
We hope this update will help raise awareness of just how urgent the situation has become and encourage the wider community, decision-makers and potential partners to take meaningful action.
Gili Trawangan is a beautiful island surrounded by precious coral reefs. We cannot protect the ocean while allowing the waste crisis on land to spiral out of control.
We are still fighting for solutions.
But we need more than hope. We need action, cooperation and the resources to make lasting change possible.
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By Cahyo Kurniawan | Project Manager and Coordinator of FMPL
By Cahyo Kurniawan | Project Manager and Coordinator of FMPL
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