Plastic Collective and Earthwatch are working with local NGO Sea Communities and a village-owned enterprise BUMDes Sari Lestari, installing two small portable recycling machines to kick-start a new circular economy in Les Village, a remote fishing village on Bali’s northern coast. 

Plastic waste is a social and environmental problem faced the world over. This partnership is enabling the community to tackle this issue from both sides, creating a real chance of successfully improving the marine debris issue in Bali. 

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Real outcomes 

Since the program’s inception, the community has developed numerous products from recycled plastic for sale to local and global audiences.  With the guidance of Plastic Collective, the village social enterprise is also aiming to sell its recycled plastic into larger international markets for post-consumer recycled plastics. 

The program is also undertaking environmental monitoring to understand what impact small-scale recycling is having in reducing plastics in the community. Led by Prof Stephen Smith of Southern Cross University, his team has found that some items that can be recycled in the Shruder have decreased in the environment from 2018 to 2019, demonstrating that small-scale recycling can have positive impacts on the local environment. 

This is a part of our  Healthy Coasts campaign.

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