Bali introduces $65k cleaning robot to fix dirty beach problem

For galore tourists, Bali conjures up images of achromatic sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, expansive atom fields and lush, dense jungles – but nan reality in galore areas is very different.

The celebrated land has agelong suffered from a rubbish crisis, pinch discarded washing up on nan tourer hotspot beaches of Kuta, Seminyak, Legian and Jimbaran from nan months of October to March.

It’s an yearly arena that sees plastic, garbage, and discarded from shipping vessels often carried into onshore by beardown winds, precocious tides, and driving rains.

The island’s unfastened landfills are besides a immense problem. As they go fuller, they put unit connected section discarded guidance operations.

Rubbish is past tipped into waterways and dumped successful unofficial landfill sites, often connected nan edges of immoderate of Bali’s astir beautiful earthy landscapes.

Officials person implemented solutions, and while immoderate person had an impact, others person fallen flat.

However, what immoderate whitethorn not cognize is that complete nan past 2 years, formation cleaning robots person been tested successful immoderate of island’s apical resorts by awesome edifice brands.

Now, section leaders are sharing their hopes that these precocious tech hoovers could thief alteration nan measurement successful which nan island’s astir celebrated beaches are maintained.

Alit Sucipta, nan Deputy Regent of Badung, visited nan tourer hotspot, FINNS Beach Club successful Canggu to formally motorboat nan deployment of nan BeBot Smart Beach Cleaning Robot.

The robot, weighted astatine astir $65,000 USD, has been a resident of nan formation nine for 3 months, but connected Tuesday, local leaders came together to talk nan early of formation guidance successful Bali’s busiest tourism resort.

“If you look astatine what we’ve seen, this is simply a reference constituent that we request to study,” Deputy Regent Sucipta told reporters, arsenic per The Bali Sun.

“This robot tin beryllium used, but pinch an moreover larger capacity, truthful we tin supply it to each accepted colony successful coastal areas.”

He explained while they spot imaginable successful it, nan robot isn’t yet capable to maximize its performance.

“Perhaps successful nan early we tin usage nan aforesaid robot instrumentality but pinch a larger capacity truthful it tin cod different types of waste,” he added.

He hopes different businesses will travel suit and put successful akin technologies to combat nan island’s discarded problem.

According to The Bali Sun, nan solar-powered robot has been moving 2.5 hours a day, and has been capable to clear 180 metre stretches of Berawa Beach and Perancak Beach.

“Since this measurement began, we person succeeded successful reducing nan discarded disposed of successful landfills from 80 percent to 20 percent based connected past year’s audit,” Director of PT Pantai Semara Nusantara (FINNS Beach Club), Wayan Asrama said.

“But it’s not vanished there, by nan extremity of 2025, our target is for only 5 percent of discarded to beryllium entering landfill.”

It comes arsenic Bali Provincial Government confirmed nan Suwung TPA, Bali’s largest unfastened landfill, is officially closed.

Environmental NGOs for illustration Mudfish No Plastic and Sungai Watch person besides gone to awesome lengths to tackle forbidden landfills and formation plastic, arsenic good arsenic creating caller systems to recycle and repurpose inorganic waste.

Gary Bencheghib, a French filmmaker surviving successful Indonesia, is portion of Sungai Watch, a squad dedicated to “protecting waterways successful Indonesia”.

The not-for-profit statement revealed 1,053,270kg of discarded was collected successful 2024, 503 clean-ups organized and 104 trash barriers installed.

“This brings our full postulation to 2,796,360kg of waste, 1,628 full clean-ups organized, and 330 barriers installed since we started cleaning rivers 4 years ago, successful 2020,” they said successful an Instagram post.