Indonesia's fight to clean up 'the world's most polluted river'

Wida Widiarti has spent her entire life near the Citarum River on Indonesia's main island of Java.

That means she has witnessed first-hand how the river mutated from an important lifeline into a disgusting symbol of extreme environmental pollution.

Time and again, the Citarum is described in reports as the "world's most polluted river".

"People clean up, but the rubbish comes back anyway," says Widiarti, who lives near Bandung.

Surrounded by mountains, rice paddies and volcanoes, the Javanese metropolis some 100 kilometres south-east of Jakarta, is a popular destination for tourists, but like in so many regions in South-east Asia, a massive waste problem lurks beneath the picturesque surface.

Widiarti and her little daughter stand on the river bank and look at the murky water, littered with plastic bottles, broken flip-flops and other rubbish that is barely recognizable.

Some months are worse than others, she says. At times, the water is almost covered entirely by waste. "Even in better times, the Citarum is never free of rubbish," she says.

Root causes

Indonesia is considered the second largest plastic polluter of the world's oceans after China and many other countries in the region also have a huge waste problem.

This is partially due to a rapidly growing population, mass tourism coupled with ever-increasing amounts of plastic waste, inadequate waste separation and the lack of recycling infrastructure.

Meanwhile, many locals simply discard their rubbish in the countryside – not only because of a lack of environmental awareness, but also because there's no functioning waste collection service.

But, as well-known US environmental activist Annie Leonard once put it: "There is no such thing as 'away.' When we throw anything away, it must go somewhere."

An exported European issue?

Rubbish shipped from Europe to South-east Asia also contributes to the problem.

According to Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), 732,000 tonnes of plastic waste were exported to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam in 2024 from Germany alone.

This is despite the fact that "checks and recycling infrastructure in the destination countries are often inadequate," meaning little of the rubbish is actually recycled, according to the environmentalists.

Instead, much of Europe's exported waste ends up in incinerators and landfills or is dumped illegally, including in the sea, NABU says.

Bali and Thailand also affected

Indonesia's waste problem also extends to the tourist hotspot of Bali, a neighbouring island of Java, known around the world for its once pristine beaches.

But anyone paying a visit to those beaches, particularly during the rainy season, will soon be left with the feeling that this isn't the paradise they were sold.

Tonnes of waste are washed ashore on Bali's coast every year - with a significant proportion coming from local sources, plus waste from other islands transported by ocean currents.

While swimmers frolic in the waves, disposable packaging, straws, polystyrene and plastic cups pile up on the beach.

The situation is similar in Thailand, with some holidaymakers horrified to discover the masses of garbage washing up on world-famous islands including Koh Samui and Phuket.

Landfills and rubbish collection are in short supply and only work well in larger cities such as Bangkok, forcing locals to illegally dump waste, sometimes just metres away from five-star hotels.

Industrial waste

The 290-kilometre Citarum River winds through the heart of West Java province before finally emptying into the Java Sea on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

It provides drinking water, irrigation and hydropower for almost 30 million people, including the residents of Jakarta, a 2-hour drive away.

The pollution dates back to the 1980s, when the region developed into an industrial centre. Countless textile factories sprang up on the riverbanks, discharging untreated waste materials – including heavy metals, dyes and microplastics – into the water, according to a 2018 Greenpeace report.

'FragrantCitarum'

Chemicals discarded by a total of some 2,700 medium-sized and large companies have contributed to the pollution of the Citarum, according to the report.

A 2018 investigation by the Indonesian government found up to 340,000 tonnes of hazardous waste entered the river every day, leaving the water black and covered with toxic foam in some place until the present day.

The rapid growth of the urban population compounded the problem, as tonnes of household waste, especially single-use plastics, end up in the river every day.

To get the situation under control, then-president Joko Widodo launched an ambitious clean-up campaign dubbed "Citarum Harum", which translates as "fragrant Citarum," aiming to make the river water drinkable again within seven years.

Seven years later...

Now those seven years have passed - and the campaign has produced mixed results.

While water quality has generally improved thanks to new sewage treatment plants, environmental activists warn that many factories continue to discharge their toxic wastewater into the river – especially under the cover of night.

According to a 2023 study, toxic seepage from rotting waste at the province's largest landfill site also ends up in the Citarum.

Meanwhile, the carpets of rubbish persist. Just last year, photos and videos of the Citarum went viral, showing officials on small boats trying to clean up a huge patch of rubbish estimated to stretch 3 kilometres and weighing some 100 tons.

A vicious circle made from plastic

But the rubbish keeps on mounting, not least due to the fact that residents are forced to buy bottled water because they have no access to clean drinking water.

"The situation remains alarming," Daru Setyorini, an environmental activist with Indonesian group Ecoton, told dpa.

Instead of simply fishing the rubbish out of the river, the government should prevent it from getting there in the first place, she says. "The Citarum cannot be saved by cleaning measures alone."

"If we don't tackle the root causes and regulate industries, educate the population and switch to sustainable waste management – the Citarum will continue to be in trouble," she says.