Networks of Waste: Informal Economic Systems and Sustainability in Bali, Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines solid waste management in Badung Regency, Bali. It argues that current conventional centralised and decentralised solid waste management approaches are not proving effective and fail to cater to the needs of the majority of the population, particularly poorer communities. In contrast, it was found that informal waste networks achieved higher standards of economic efficiency, service coverage and resource recovery, contributing both to environmental protection and livelihoods. Much can be learned by planners in developing nations from these ‘networks of waste’, and in building upon the economic and environmental principles and behaviour around which informal waste networks function.