Ambon Project

Maluku Province (Molaccas or Spice) is composed of 1027 islands. Ambon is the administrative centre of Maluku Province, concentrated on the shores of the Inner and Outer Ambon bays. Decades of erosion and domestic litter have substantially reduced the health of waterways and damaged marine reefs. Corals have almost completely vanished from Inner Bay and marine plastics dominate intertidal and subtidal landscapes, affecting all subsistence fisheries in the Bay. Recycling is very limited so items such as PET bottles are a major component of the litter stream.

Marine debris is the most visual of the human impacts and in Ambon, where marine debris is significant, there is a growing awareness of the waste plastic problem. Due to the isolated distances from large industrial hubs and transportation costs of bulky plastic, there is clear scope for business-based opportunities to ramp-up recycling efforts with grassroots localised processing plants and education for the community to engage in a circular economy.