Indonesia’s Polluted Rivers and Beaches Get a Makeover: TikTok Stars Lead the Clean-Up Efforts

They began as flood victims but have now gained recognition as local heroes in Bandung, the third largest city in Indonesia’s West Java province. The five young men, known as the Pandawara group, have amassed over 9 million followers on TikTok and Instagram while cleaning up the city’s rivers and beaches. Their efforts have inspired others across the country to join the fight against pollution. The group was formed in 2022 after their homes were damaged by flooding caused by rivers clogged with rubbish. They are named after the five Pandava princes from Indian folklore and the word “wara,” which means the bearers of good news. On TikTok, their profile (@pandawaragroup) features over 100 short videos of their clean-up activities, garnering millions of views and over 100 million likes.

The Pandawara group includes a team of river hunters who identify rivers with urgent trash issues that may result in flooding after rainfall. In the Greater Bandung area where they live, 2,000 tons of waste are produced daily, with 10 to 20% of it not reaching landfills and ending up in rivers instead. The waste problem in the region has exceeded landfill capacity by 800%. This issue is not unique to Bandung, as 36% of the 33 million tons of waste produced in a sample of 280 Indonesian cities and districts in 2022 did not reach landfills. Landfills for food and plastic waste across the country are overcrowded.

Pandawara initially started small, cleaning up rivers in their neighborhood while wearing rubber gloves and boots. As their popularity grew, they became full-time online celebrities and activists, receiving invitations to meet government officials and securing partnership deals. They expanded their clean-up efforts to other islands in Indonesia. Some of their videos on TikTok were considered sensitive content due to the sight of decaying rubbish being potentially disturbing to viewers.

On July 10th, the group organized a clean-up event where 3,000 people showed up to help remove 300 tons of waste from a beach in Lampung on Sumatra island. The collected waste was then transported to landfills. Pandawara’s aim is to raise awareness of pollution among Generation Z using the power of social media.

In their latest clean-up event on July 27th, Pandawara and 600 volunteers, including local government staff and officials, removed 17 tons of waste from the Bugel dam in Bandung regency. The dam is connected to West Java’s longest river. Volunteers like 22-year-old Resti Khairunnisa, who lives near the dam, were inspired by Pandawara’s videos and eagerly volunteered, even with limited protective gear.

While community-based initiatives like Pandawara’s are important, 21-year-old university student Imam Ahmad Fadhil, a flood victim himself, believes more is needed. He praises Pandawara’s consistency but emphasizes the need for waste facilities and transportation tools in villages to address the issue effectively. Government officials, such as West Java’s Prima Mayaningtyas, acknowledge the need to improve waste management and people’s behaviors in the face of growing waste volumes. The government plans to invest in waste-to-energy plants to tackle the problem, with a target completion date of 2030.

Mayaningtyas hopes that initiatives like Pandawara’s will make young people realize that the environment is a shared responsibility.

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