Ambon is a beautiful island in eastern Indonesia belonging to the province of Maluku. In recent years, the island’s population grew from 233,000 inhabitants in 2005, to 355,500 inhabitants in 2017 (World population review, 2017).

With the population growth, also the amount of waste increased at the same rate, adding additional pressure on the city on different levels, such as the waste system: currently collecting - only part - of the waste in the landfill, the island is not able to handle the amount of waste. The waste which is not collected is dumped in illegal places, burned on private property, or, the majority, ends up in the environment, especially in rivers. During rainfall, the rivers flush the waste into Ambon Bay affecting the natural ecosystem and daily life of thousands of people living on the sea. From impacting Ambon, the plastic finds its way to the open waters, becoming one of the most pressing environmental issues of today, as it happens for other thousands of islands with similar conditions.