Paradise on the Brink: Bali’s Trash Emergency and the Push to Fix It

If you’ve spent any time in Bali, you’ll know the island has a trash problem.

The kind that clogs rivers, chokes gutters, and leaves the air carrying more than just the scent of incense.

And now, things are getting real.

After 40 years of swallowing everything from plastic straws to nasi campur leftovers, Suwung landfill – the mountain of waste south of Denpasar – is shutting its gates on organic trash.

Come December, the Balinese government has declared it’ll close for good.

Which begs the obvious question: where does all that food waste go now?