Spearheaded by Marriott Business Council Indonesia, the initiative aims to restore clean rivers and halt plastic waste, one village at a time.
Marriott International puts sustainability at the forefront by partnering with Sungai Watch, an environmental organisation on a mission to clean and restore Indonesia’s rivers. Spearheaded by Marriott Business Council (MBC) in Indonesia, this project is set to develop a waste solution plan in Singaraja, Buleleng Regency, North Bali and drive sustainable impact for the community at large.
Guided by the company’s 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Goals and in tandem with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, this meaningful initiative was established in line with Marriott’s Serve360, a pledge to make a positive impact wherever Marriott does business.
“More than creating job opportunities and empowering local talents, Marriott International – through its Business Councils – is committed to creating a future that is sustainable for all, especially in areas where we are operating. Thanks to the collective effort of our Marriott Bonvoy hotels and resorts in Indonesia and through pioneering this partnership with Sungai Watch, we aim to remove approximately 100 tons of plastic waste annually from each village,” said Titus Rosier, Chairman of Marriott Business Council Indonesia and General Manager W Bali Seminyak.
Together with Sungai Watch, the project focuses on developing a waste solution plan by preventing plastic from reaching the ocean through the installation of 15 barriers in the rivers of Singaraja, which will effectively stop the flow of plastic waste and remove approximately 100,000 kilograms of plastic waste. In addition, a waste segregation facility has been developed, where local communities can bring the plastic waste collected for sorting and recycling.
“80% of plastic pollution in the ocean comes from rivers. Sungai Watch started with a simple and straightforward mission – to protect and restore Indonesia’s rivers by starting at the heart of the issue, in our rivers, where we can directly prevent the flow of plastics from entering the ocean. Since October 2020, we have designed and deployed more than 180 trash barriers and collected over 1,150,000 kilograms of plastic. With this monumental partnership with Marriott International, we look forward to driving an even greater impact in the country and beyond,” said Sam Bencheghib, Co-Founder of Sungai Watch.
Funded through two initiatives – Road To Give 2022 Bali (participated by all Marriott Hotels in Bali and Lombok) and a $1 per stay donation from guests at Marriott Bonvoy properties in Indonesia – the key impacts of this collaboration include providing job opportunities for local villagers, educating the community on pollution, and stopping plastic from reaching the ocean.
Beyond this first-of-its-kind collaboration, in 2019, Marriott International announced their plan to reduce single-use plastics worldwide by replacing tiny, single-use toiletry bottles in guest room showers with larger pump-topped bottles.
The partnership kicked off on 15th May 2023 and was attended by General Managers in Marriott Bonvoy’s hotels and resorts in Bali, followed by an inaugural trash barrier installation and trash collection session. A total of 239.88 kilograms of plastic waste was collected during the one-hour river clean-up.
For more information about Marriott International’s Serve360, click here.