A sea of garbage This is the "dirtiest river in the world"
Pictures like these show why the Citarum is often called the "dirtiest river in the world".
Image: dpa
The authorities' cleaning operations are very costly - but the garbage usually returns soon after.
Image: dpa
Whole carpets of garbage float in the Citarum, along with toxic wastewater from textile factories.
Image: dpa
In rural areas of Southeast Asia, there is hardly any waste collection or recycling. Many residents burn the garbage themselves in small sheds.
Image: dpa
In many places, barely identifiable garbage floats in the Citarum River.
Image: dpa
The vacation island of Bali also has a huge garbage problem - like here on the beach in Kuta.
Image: dpa
Pictures like these show why the Citarum is often called the "dirtiest river in the world".
Image: dpa
The authorities' cleaning operations are very costly - but the garbage usually returns soon after.
Image: dpa
Whole carpets of garbage float in the Citarum, along with toxic wastewater from textile factories.
Image: dpa
In rural areas of Southeast Asia, there is hardly any waste collection or recycling. Many residents burn the garbage themselves in small sheds.
Image: dpa
In many places, barely identifiable garbage floats in the Citarum River.
Image: dpa
The vacation island of Bali also has a huge garbage problem - like here on the beach in Kuta.
Image: dpa
Many countries in Southeast Asia have a huge waste problem. This is particularly evident in the Citarum River in Indonesia. At times, there is hardly any water to be seen because of all the garbage. Where does all the dirt come from?
09.06.2025, 22:54
dpa
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- The Citarum River in Indonesia is considered the dirtiest river in the world.
- At times there is hardly any water to be seen because of all the waste.
- Indonesia is considered the second biggest polluter of the world's oceans with plastic waste after China.
Wida Widiarti has spent her entire life near the Citarum River on the Indonesian main island of Java. She has witnessed first-hand how the river has mutated from an important lifeline to a disgusting symbol of extreme environmental pollution. Reports repeatedly refer to the Citarum as the "dirtiest river in the world".
"People clean it up, but the garbage still comes back," says Widiarti, who lives near Bandung. The metropolis, surrounded by mountains, green rice fields and volcanoes, is actually known as a tourist magnet. But the idyll is deceptive - as in so many regions of Southeast Asia, a massive waste problem lurks beneath the picturesque surface.
Widiart stands on the shore with her young daughter and looks anxiously at the murky water, in which plastic bottles, broken flip-flops and barely identifiable garbage float. In some months it is worse than in others, when at times there is hardly any water to be seen because of all the garbage. "And even in better times, the Citarum is never free of garbage," she says.
Why does Southeast Asia have such a big waste problem?
Indonesia is considered the second largest polluter of the world's oceans with plastic waste after China. Many other countries in the region also have a huge waste problem.
Some of the reasons are exploding population growth and mass tourism coupled with ever more plastic waste, inadequate waste separation and a recycling infrastructure that is virtually non-existent in many places. In addition, many people simply dispose of their waste in the countryside - not only because of a lack of environmental education, but also because of a lack of waste collection. But the well-known US environmental activist Annie Leonard said: "There is no such thing as 'gone'. If we throw something away, it has to go somewhere."
Germany sends waste to Asia
Speaking of going somewhere: Waste from Europe often goes to other countries, now especially in Southeast Asia. According to the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu), 732,000 tons of plastic waste were exported from Germany alone in 2024, now in large quantities to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
"However, the verification and control systems as well as the recycling infrastructure in the destination countries are often inadequate, meaning that only some of the waste is actually recycled," it said. The rest is incinerated, dumped or disposed of in the wild under low environmental standards. A large proportion ultimately ends up in the sea.
Bali and Thailand also affected
On the island of Bali, the neighboring island of Java, which is popular with tourists from all over the world, the beaches also offer more disgust factor than dream potential, especially in the rainy season. Tons of waste are washed ashore on the coasts, such as in the surfers' paradise of Kuta. A significant proportion of this comes from local sources, but ocean currents also transport waste from other islands.
While bathers jump into the waves, disposable packaging, straws, polystyrene and plastic cups pile up on the beach. Many a visitor from Europe had certainly imagined their vacation on the "Island of the Gods" to be different.
The situation is similar in Thailand. Holidaymakers are sometimes horrified - especially on world-famous islands such as Koh Samui and Phuket. Landfill sites and waste collection are in short supply. They only work really well in larger cities such as Bangkok. As a result, there are more and more (mostly illegal) garbage dumps, often just a few meters away from the paradisiacal five-star hotels.
Textile factories discharge chemicals into the water
Back to the Citarum. The 290-kilometer-long river flows through the heart of the province of West Java before finally flowing into the Java Sea on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. It supplies almost 30 million people, including the inhabitants of the capital Jakarta, two hours away by car, with drinking water, irrigation and hydropower.
The problems began when the region developed into an industrial center in the 1980s. Countless textile factories sprang up on the banks of the Citarum, discharging untreated waste materials - including heavy metals, dyes and microplastics - into the water, as Greenpeace impressively described in a report a few years ago.
"Fragrant Citarum" campaign
There was talk of around 2,700 medium-sized and large companies contributing to the pollution of the Citarum with their chemicals. According to an investigation by the Indonesian government in 2018, up to 340,000 tons of hazardous waste entered the river every day. As a result, the water is still black in places, streaked with toxic foam.
The rapid growth of the urban population exacerbated the problem as more and more household waste, especially single-use plastic, found its way into the river. By the ton. Every day. To tackle the situation, the then President Joko Widodo launched an ambitious clean-up campaign with the catchy name "Citarum Harum", which means "fragrant Citarum". The aim was to make the river's water drinkable again within seven years.
Illegal sewage disposal at night
Seven years have passed. Has the campaign had any effect? Yes and no: although the water quality has generally improved thanks to new wastewater treatment plants, environmental activists warn that many factories are still discharging their toxic wastewater into the river - especially at night to avoid detection. Also, according to a 2023 study, toxic leachate from rotting waste from the province's largest landfill site is leaking into the Citarum.
And then there's the garbage. Just last year, photos and videos of the Citarum went around the world, showing how the authorities are using small boats to try and clean up a huge pile of waste. It looks like the battle of David against Goliath.
The authorities estimated that the masses of waste stretched over three kilometers and weighed around 100 tons. However, as is so often the case, a great deal of effort is made to improve the situation - but a short time later, new masses of waste make their way through.
A vicious circle of plastic
This also has to do with the fact that the lack of access to clean drinking water means that local residents are dependent on buying water bottles - many of which end up in the river. A vicious circle. "The situation is still alarming," Daru Setyorini, an environmental activist with the Indonesian organization Ecoton, told the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Instead of simply fishing the waste out of the river, the government should prevent it from getting in at all, she emphasized. "The Citarum cannot be saved by cleaning measures alone," the activist is convinced. "If we don't start at the source - regulating industries, educating the population and switching to sustainable waste management - the Citarum will continue to be in trouble."