How Hospitality Is Leading the Way in Bringing Better Recycling to Bali

Bali’s waste problem 

Bali currently generates more than 3,400 tonnes of waste every day. While most of this is organic (food) waste, plastic is an ever-present problem. Ocean currents unfortunately exacerbate the problem: particularly during monsoon season, a considerable portion of the plastic that washes up on Bali’s beaches is carried here from other parts of Indonesia, like East Java and Kalimantan. 

While the island’s constant influx of tourists also makes a major contribution to the waste generated, the irony is that its tourism and hospitality sector relies heavily on the area’s outstanding natural beauty. Pollution poses a real threat to Bali’s reputation — so solving this problem is an urgent economic imperative.  

Worryingly, many of Bali’s landfill sites have now reached full capacity, creating a critical gap in infrastructure. As explained by Dito Prahadi, Director of Sustainability at Locavore Group, “Bali's waste system faces more challenges than ever before. Landfills are exceeding capacity, potential landfill closures are being discussed although solutions remain scarce, and a fierce rainy season has added to the complexity — it has stressed Bali's waste system and compelled all businesses to look inward. Recently, the government mandated that hospitality businesses must comply to manage their own waste effectively. In this context, waste management has become more important than ever before for hospitality businesses.” 

Despite the good intentions of many, the island’s current infrastructure simply cannot handle the levels of waste being generated. This highlights the clear need for a circular approach across the island’s economy — particularly its hospitality and tourism sector — designing a system in which waste is never created in the first place. 

Two of our Food Made Good-certified businesses have taken matters into their own hands, building infrastructure where it was needed and embedding circularity not only into their own operations, but into their communities and further across the island. These are two shining examples of the scale of change the hospitality sector can create, even where governments are slow to act. 

Locavore NXT: A localised rebellion 

Based in Ubud among rolling hills and lush, vibrantly green rice paddies, Locavore NXT describes itself as “more than a restaurant: a localised rebellion”. Their first Food Made Good evaluation in 2025 garnered them three stars, with one of their highest scores in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle area of the Framework. We spoke to Dito Prahadi, Director of Sustainability at Locavore Group, about their forward-thinking approach. 

Recognising that prevention is the gold standard for thinking about waste, there are systems in place to reuse and repurpose as the first port of call. Offcuts from menus are used for staff meals, and/or repurposed in the restaurant’s Fermentation and R&D labs, where they can gain circular value as condiments, ingredients or even as a new dish. “You might just find that dish on our latest menu!” says Dito. 

Where waste cannot be redirected in this way, how does Locavore NXT keep it out of Bali’s already-overflowing landfill sites? Dito breaks it down for us, using last year’s figures to illustrate the restaurant’s tactics. In 2025, Locavore NXT generated a total of 47,675kg of waste. Incredibly, through a combination of internal and external efforts, the team was able to divert 97.8% of this from landfill. The restaurant’s Circular Waste Centre (CWC), where waste is separated, recycled and composted, plays a central role in this success. 

“Organic waste made up 78.2% of our overall waste in 2025,” explains Dito. “On-site, we recycled 84.5% of this using traditional composting rings. Our friends at Z BIO supported our on-site efforts further by helping us set up a BSF (black soldier fly larvae) composting system here at Locavore NXT.” This compost is later used by the gardening team to grow edible plants in the restaurant’s Rooftop Food Forest and to support general landscaping at NXT. “The remainder (bone waste) is recycled off-site by our partners at Umah Pupa. Simply put, we successfully recycled 100% of our organic waste.”  

Non-organic waste made up another 19.6% of the total. “With the support of ecoBali, we can ensure that our non-organic waste is recycled effectively at their facility,” he continues. The remaining 2.2% remains a challenge; this is categorised as unrecyclable 'residue waste’, and, out of necessity, goes to landfill.  

In December 2025, the business took a wider approach to waste management by involving all five outlets from Locavore Group. “We took our first step by collecting organic waste from all outlets to process them at Locavore NXT's CWC,” says Dito. The goal for 2026 is to establish deeper separation habits at the group’s other outlets — mirroring those already in place at NXT — allowing them to collect non-organic waste for recycling, too.  

It’s clear that leveraging key partnerships is an important part of this waste management strategy, but Dito also credits the Locavore team with their success in this area. “On a daily basis, separation at source has become a habit across the team, which has been key for us. This wouldn't have been possible without the participation of everyone here at Locavore NXT; the whole team shares a belief in doing what's right.”  

He offers his best advice for other operators who are keen to reduce their environmental footprint. “Reflect on the impact your business has on your environment, then identify where you can do better. Start inward and your impact will spread outward.” He points to collaboration and knowledge-sharing as essential in creating positive impacts. “Working together helps us find the right solutions for waste, transforming them into valuable materials that can circulate back into our operations, or meet the needs of others.” 

“Across the industry, we've seen great examples set by our peers in hospitality,” he continues. “The Community Waste Project launched in 2024 by our friends at Desa Potato Head and Mexicola Group was a bold waste management initiative aimed towards collective effort among hospitality businesses in their area. By sharing knowledge, more businesses were able to practice good habits to manage waste. Similarly, Eco-Mantra have been at the forefront of transforming hospitality businesses in Bali through their guidance and expertise in environmental engineering.” 

Desa Potato Head Bali: A community focus 

As Dito points out, Desa Potato Head Bali is leading the charge towards a circular future in Seminyak, a lively beach town and tourist favourite on the island’s west coast. We’ve written before about Potato Head’s fantastic work to reduce, reuse and recycle on-site, and their Community Waste Project was a significant part of why they won the Eco Hotel Award at The World’s 50 Best Hotels in 2025. 

Recognising the potential for creating a ripple effect of positive change across the entire island, Potato Head launched the Community Waste Project in October 2024. This is a 2,000-square-metre facility opened in collaboration with other like-minded local businesses. Designed to dramatically reduce landfill waste and lead the way towards a circular economy, the Community Waste Project is cutting waste from participating businesses from over 50% to an ambitious target of just 5%, setting a new standard for waste management in Indonesia’s hospitality sector.   

Getting to grips with waste separation at the source is critical for any successful waste management strategy. With a robust approach to separation and reuse already in place within their own operations, Desa Potato Head shared their in-house expertise and provided training for partner businesses on how to sort waste correctly. The facility now processes up to five tonnes of organic, inorganic and garden waste each day from Potato Head and a network of other local businesses.  

At Potato Head, the team is always working towards the admirable goal of becoming a zero-waste property. "We're not zero waste yet and honestly, we might never get there completely," said founder Ronald Akili in late 2025, speaking to our Head of Marketing & Communications, Jocelyn Doyle, in this interview for The World’s 50 Best. "But we've made huge progress: today, 99.5% of our waste is diverted from landfill." With the property welcoming over 1,000 guests every day, this is already an incredible accomplishment. 

The Community Waste Project takes this to a whole new level, ultimately working towards a zero-waste future for the entire island, building a cleaner future for locals and creating new jobs in the process. Smart upcycling processes turn waste materials into practical products like compost and plastic panels for the hospitality industry. Participating members can purchase these at cost price, and all profits are reinvested back into the community, allowing the model to keep growing in scale.  

As Sustainability Director Amanda Marcella said in a 2024 interview with us, shortly after the launch of the Community Waste Project, “This is a great step — not only for us, but for the neighbourhood. Stronger collaborations between businesses, governments and local communities could help establish better waste management infrastructure, like accessible recycling facilities or shared resources for composting and upcycling. The key takeaway is always the same: proper waste separation makes recycling far more effective, but it requires collective effort to scale this impact.”  

Looking forward 

While the pandemic slowed progress in solving the island’s waste problem, the Balinese government is now beginning to take decisive action. In April 2025, the government launched the 'Clean Bali from Waste' initiative, with the goal of making Bali waste-free by 2027. Two months later, at the World Environment Day celebration on 5th June, Bali Governor Wayan Koster announced a ban on making, selling and distributing single-use plastic drink containers smaller than one litre, including water bottles and cups. This is now in full enforcement, including for hotels. Framing sustainability as a crucial consideration for Bali’s tourism-dependent economy, Governor Koster said, “Green hotels, green malls, green restaurants – that’s the future of Bali. If a destination is not environmentally friendly, don’t expect to be visited by international travellers.”  

In September 2025, Indonesia’s Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq announced that star-rated hotels across Bali would be obligated to manage their own waste from the end of 2025 onwards, pointing to the high volumes of waste typically generated by these establishments. Hotel businesses are now required to internalise the costs and responsibilities of their waste streams flows, with non-compliant hotels facing sanctions. Minister Nurofiq said that restaurants would be the next target for this mandate. 

While these are positive steps forward for the island’s natural resources, tourism sector and overall economy, the action-led approach at both Locavore NXT and Desa Potato Head provides two fantastic examples of how change can be led by hospitality businesses themselves, moving ahead of legislation and showing how innovative ideas can be put into practice. By demonstrating how circular systems can work within the daily realities of a successful business (and for the good of the communities around them), cases like these can provide a catalyst for change at legislative level. 

“Pollution affects Bali's tourism, businesses and its residents,” says Dito in closing. “As a restaurant business, we place great emphasis on sourcing locally, and environmental pollution risks the quality of local produce. Further action is now a necessity, not just from the hospitality industry, but all stakeholders in Bali. Our future is clearly at stake.” 

All images courtesy of Locavore NXT.

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