Through the Marriott Business Council (MBC) in Indonesia, Marriott International partnered with Sungai Watch, an environmental organization dedicated to cleaning and restoring Indonesia’s rivers.

Marriott International’s sustainable initiative aligns with the brand’s Serve360 commitment to create positive and sustainable impact, guided by Marriott’s 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Titus Rosier, President of the Marriott Business Council Indonesia and General Manager of W Bali Seminyak, expressed the brand’s hopeful vision of creating a sustainable future for all, enabling job opportunities and empowering the local community.

In collaboration with Sungai Watch, the project aims to prevent plastic from reaching the ocean and remove almost 100,000 kg of plastic waste by installing 15 barriers in the rivers of Singaraja. In addition, a waste segregation facility is also available so that locals in the area can easily bring in their plastic waste for sorting and recycling.

Sam Bencheghib, co-founder of Sungai Watch, said that 80% of plastic pollution in the ocean comes from rivers. With the simple aim of protecting and restoring Indonesia’s rivers, Sungai Watch has been distributing more than 180 barriers since October 2020, which have managed to collect around 1,150,000 kg of plastic.

Funded through two initiatives: Road To Give 2022 Bali (participated by all Marriott hotels in Bali and Lombok) and a $1 donation per guest stay at Marriott Bonvoy properties in Indonesia, key impacts of this collaboration include local job creation and community awareness. on pollution and prevention of plastic waste in the ocean.

The partnership began on May 15, 2023 and was attended by the general managers at Marriott Bonvoy hotels and resorts in Bali, followed by an inaugural session of trash barrier installation and trash collection. A total of 239.88 kg of plastic waste was collected during the one-hour river cleanup.

Beyond the collaboration, Marriott International implemented a global initiative in 2019 to reduce the use of single-use plastics: It replaced the small single-use toiletry bottles in guest room showers with larger bottles with pump caps.

Now these are the types of collaborations we love to see!

For more information about Marriott International and its sustainability program, visit www.serve360.marriott.com.