Marine litter composition and density in Alor

Island
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2349, 020039 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0052002
Published Online: 24 June 2021

Faryda V. L. Koly, Alexandra M. Waskita, Paulus E. Plaimo, and I. M. D. J. Aryawan

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AIP Conference Proceedings 2349, 020039 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0052002 2349, 020039

© 2021 Author(s).
 Marine Litter Composition and Density in Alor Island
Faryda V. L. Koly1, a), Alexandra M. Waskita2, b), Paulus E. Plaimo3, and I M. D.
J. Aryawan2
1 Departmentof Chemistry, Faculty of Math and Science, Universitas Tribuana Kalabahi, 85817, Indonesia
2 Marine and Fisheries Directorate, WWF-Indonesia, 12540, Indonesia
3 Department of Fishery, Faculty of Agriculture and Fisheries, Universitas Tribuana Kalabahi, 85817,

Indonesia
a)
Corresponding author: faryda.veronica.l.k@gmail.com
b)
anotherauthor: amwaskita@gmail.com

Abstract. The habit of littering as well as illegal waste dumping into the river and the ocean is commonly found in
various regions in Indonesia, including Alor island. Most of waste dumped on the land end up in the coastal through
river flows and water run-off and at the and at the end is carried away to the ocean. The inappropriate existence of
anthropogenic waste causes damage to marine and coastal ecosystems, for instance plastic ocean, while the ocean
provides livelihood for most coastal people in Alor. In addition, dirty coastal areas due to trash littering and illegal
waste dumping can be another issue in terms of marine tourism activity which is currently being promoted by the
Alor Regency government. Therefore, further research is needed in order to support the making of waste
management regulation as well as educational and awareness raising within people of Alor island. This research
supported by citizen science of Plastic Free Ocean Network Alor identified the composition and concentration of
marine litter in Alor Island using the line transect method developed by CSIRO. The result showed that the top three
marine litter compositions in all locations during January-June 2019 were soft plastic, hard plastic and glass. The
density of marine litter on Alor Island is categorized as high density as a whole. The location that contributed the
highest marine litter density was Kadelang Beach.

INTRODUCTION
The development of science and technology has a positive impact on human life. Human activities nowadays
are being developed and simplified but has negative consequences in terms of the type and amount of waste
produced for the environment. Based on the type, waste is categorized into organic waste which biodegradase
naturally by microorganisms, and inorganic waste which cannot be decomposed by microorganisms. Most of the
anthropogenic waste produced prior the industrial revolution dominated by organic waste, while the types of
waste encountered are almost dominated by inorganic waste such as plastics, foam cloths, sponges and others.
Waste produced by human consumption comes from any household element, as well as non-household waste
such as industry, household businesses, public facilities, and other waste sources. Waste that is currently not
well managed, mixed and decomposed in trash bins and waste dumping sites. If the waste is connected to a good
garbage collection system, it will end up in a temporary disposal site (TPS) and a final disposal site (TPA).
Otherwise, if it cannot be transported properly, the waste can leak and enter waterways and distribute it to river
estuaries and open sea.
Marine litter is all solid material that is not found naturally (a product of human activity) in both marine and
coastal waters and can have direct threat to the condition and productivity of the water area [1]. Marine litter can
found on the beach starting from the seashore to upper boundary of the beach, both the wave barrier and the
vegetation. Marine litter can be in the form of plastic, glass, metal, cork, cloth and others.
Plastic waste is the most dominant waste found on almost all beaches in the world, including Indonesia.
Marine plastic waste is categorized as macro plastic, micro plastic and nano plastic. As much as 64% plastic
waste found in Teluk Kemang Beach, Malaysia [2], 89% plastic waste on three beaches in the UK [3], plastic
waste with an average density of 25 items/m2 is found in Punta del Este, Uruguay [4], 68.83 items/m2 at
Mumbai Beach [5], 58.41% macro plastic waste at Tongkaina and Talawaan Bajo Beach, Manado [1], 75.5% at
Karama Beach, 74.6 % on Bodia Beach and 86.6% at Mandi Beach, South Sulawesi [6]. The main reason why
plastic waste dominates the oceans and coastal because of its low density so that it is easily carried by ocean

4th International Seminar on Chemistry

AIP Conf. Proc. 2349, 020039-1–020039-7; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0052002
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4100-2/$30.00

020039-1
currents, as well as it cannot be easily degraded in the environment. Plastic waste is a type of waste whose
presence in the environment causes serious and widespread problems.
The presence of marine litter cause a negative impact on ecology, economy and humans [7]. To be specified,
the presence of plastic waste in the ocean can have negative impacts on physical, chemical and biological
aspects such as the accumulation of plastic debris, degradation of aquatic habitat, BPA contamination and
phthalates ingested by marine biota such as sea turtles, whales and others [8].
Efforts that can be made to prevent environmental pollution by garbage are by providing garbage containers
at the source/waste dumping sites, providing Waste Recycle Processing Facilities and Final Processing Sites.
Another action that has a higher level compared to throwing garbage in proper place is reducing waste
production with the 3R principle (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle). This action is done in order to reduce the rate of
waste accumulation in the TPA. These efforts have been widely disseminated, but there are still many people
who are still littering, burning rubbish, throwing garbage in rivers, even into the sea.
This study aims to identify the composition and density of marine litter in Alor Regency, East Nusa
Tenggara Province. The result of this study is expected to support regulatory advocacy regarding waste
management and education on the negative impacts of waste as an effort to raise awareness for the community,
especially in Alor Regency.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This research was conducted for 6 months at the end of each month from January to June 2019 at 7 points on
the coastal area of Alor Island, namely Nur Benlelang, Pante Deere, Kadelang, Alor Kecil, Kokar, Taramana
and Maritaing beaches. This designated location has requirements including being in a bay, having a beach
length of at least 150 meters, easy to reach by vehicles/humans, and not physically (steep) or biological
(dangerous animals present) dangerous. The selected locations in this study represented districts and current
flow of in Alor Island are displayed with the code and coordinates shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1. Code and coordinates of locations
Beaches name Location codes Coordinates
Nur Benlelang NB -8.19627, 124.60168
Pante Deere PD -8.12683, 124.57799
Kadelang KDL -8.22385, 124.53897
Alor Kecil AK -8.269607, 124.407383
Kokar KKR -8.160599, 124.407383
Taramana TAR -8.16401, 124.82026
Maritaing MRT -8.28598, 125.12775

This research was conducted voluntarily by the citizen science of Plastic Free Ocean Network (PFON)
which consists of the community, government, students and lecturers, NGOs and other environmental-loving
communities. The method used in this study was the line transect method developed by CSIRO [9]. The number
of waste data gathering points on each location was three transect lines with 50 meters distance between the
transects and width of each transects is 2 meters. The equipment used in the research were the package of
worksheets, GPS for locating coordinates and compass, measuring tape, camera, clipboard and pen. The
worksheets consist of Beach Location Information Sheets, Coastal Transect Data, List of Types of Waste for
each Transect and several guidelines including List of waste types catalogs with their respective codes as well as
a garbage size chart.

RESULT

The Composition of Marine Litter

During 6 months of monitoring at 7 coastal locations on Alor Island, there were 75 waste types found which
then classified into 13 categories according to Table 2. There are three categories of waste in the top order found
in all locations, namely soft plastic (47.47%), hard plastic (16.14%) and glass (14.69%). Details of the
percentage of each type of marine litter can be seen in Figure 1.

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 TABLE 2. Category and composition of marine litter
Category Total (item) Persentage (%)
Hard plastic 1557 16.14
Soft plastic 4579 47.47
Plastic straps 460 4.77
Fishing 24 0.25
Metal 204 2.11
Glass 1417 14.69
Rubber 258 2.67
Foam 286 2.96
Cloth 271 2.81
Timber 151 1.57
Paper/cardboard 193 2.00
Miscellaneous 242 2.51
Other 4 0.04
TOTAL 9646 100.00

FIGURE 1. Details of persentage of three top marine litter composition (a) soft plastic (b) hard plastic (c) glass

The Density of Marine Litter

This research does not include weighing the waste because the weight encountered can be affected by the
moisture content and the sand or mud attached to it. Collecting marine litter density data in items/m2 can provide
more reliable and consistent data and techniques that are more accessible to organizations that may not have the
equipment to weigh them [10]. The high density of waste at the top 4 locations was on the beaches of Kadelang,
Alor Kecil, Kokar and Maritaing with values of 7.04, 2.95, 2.06 and 1.84 items/m2 respectively (Figure 2).

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 FIGURE 2. Marine litter density at each location (items/m2)

DISCUSSION

The Composition of Marine Litter

The most types of soft plastic waste were food wrappers/labels, as much as 42.32% of the 4,579 items of soft
plastic waste found (Figure 1 (a)). These plastics fall into two categories, namely plastics with and without an
aluminium coating. As much as 7.77% of soft plastic waste of unknown type was plastic packaging that was not
included in any other categories. One reason it cannot be categorized is that the plastic has been in the
ocean/coast for a long time, which causes its condition to be damaged, broken or peeled off. Plastic waste that is
included in the hard plastic category is hard plastic of unknown type (33%), bottle caps (21%), beverage bottles
(15%), and others (Figure 1 (b)). In addition, glass waste was dominated by glass shards of unknown type as
much as 94% of 1,417 items of glass waste (Figure 1 (c)). Glass type waste is estimated to be high because it is
easily broken when hit by waves and beaches. Each piece was identified as one unit of waste.

The Density of Marine Litter

Based on the three categories of marine litter density by Buhl-montensen [11], Kadelang, Alor Kecil and
Kokar beach are in the high density category (> 2 items/m2), Taramana, Maritaing and Nurbenleleang beaches
are included in the medium density category (1-2 items/m2), while Pante Deere beach is in the low waste density
category (0-1 items/m2). The high and low density of waste at each location is influenced by season and location
[3]. From October to February, the West monsoon occurs where the wind moves from the Asian continent to
Australia, while in April to October the East monsoon occurs where the wind moves in reverse from the
Australian continent to Asia [12]. Based on the data in Figure 3, it can be observed that the highest peak of
marine litter occurs in the East Season, namely in May at Kadelang Beach and in April at Alor Kecil Beach.
When viewed specifically from both hard and soft plastic waste, the highest density of plastic waste was at
Kadelang Beach, followed by Alor Kecil and Maritaing at 4.46 items/m2, 1.28 items/m2, and 1.14 items/m2,
respectively (Figure 4). The existence of plastic waste in the marine and coastal environment harm ecology,
human health and the economy of local communities. The impacts of plastic waste on the physical and
biological environment include habitat destruction, entanglement of wildlife, consumption and mortality, spread
of invasive species, and the effects of chemical transport. In addition, tourism activities are reduced, aesthetic
value is reduced, beach closures and cleaning, and boat damage [7].

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 FIGURE 3. Marine litter density at each location for each month (items/m2)

FIGURE 4. Plastic waste density at each location (items/m2)

Identifying the Sources of Marine Litter

There are several sources of marine litter based on anthropogenic activities in nature, namely coastal tourism,
fishing, land and industrial activities [13]. Acccording the data in Table 3, it can be estimated that the source of
marine litter in Alor Island is partly from the mainland, especially market activities. In addition, there was also
evidence of garbage dumping on the coast in three locations, namely Kadelang, Alor Kecil and Kokar, although
it is not yet confirmed that it is originated either from household activities or market activities. In this study,
tourism activities have a small effect on the presence of waste on the coast in Alor. This is observed from one of
the data collection locations close to tourist attractions, namely Pante Deere Beach. However, it does not rule
out that tourism activities can affect the amount of waste on the coast if it is not managed properly from the
source. Based on the data in Table 2, the waste originating from fishing activities is only a small amount,

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namely 0.25% from fishing gear, and 2.96% from foam (styrofoam). Foam type waste can come from the
activities of fishermen and fish traders in the market who use cool boxes to preserve fish. Apart from originating
from the mainland of Alor itself, it is estimated that some of the waste originated from outside the island namely
from Sulawesi and Timor island, even abroad, which is carried by currents and stranded along the coast of Alor.
It is estimated that this is because some brands of non-Indonesian waste were found such as waste from Vietnam
and Thailand.
TABLE 3. Identification of waste sources at each location
Location code The presence of a trash can Nearby activities Evidence of dumping
NB No Fishing No
PD No Fishing, beach tourism No
KDL No Fishing, traditional market Yes
AK No Fishing, traditional market, port. Yes
KKR No Fishing, traditional market, port. Yes
TAR No N/A No
MRT No Traditional market, port. No

CONCLUSION

The results showed that the entire marine litter of Alor Island was in the high density category. The location
with a density of marine litter was Kadelang beach. The main factors that cause the high amount of waste on the
coast are the absence of proper waste management from its source, the behavior of people who still littering
specifically at the beach and estuary and trash facilities is not distributed evently in most locations on Alor
Island. As moving forward, the result can be used on advocacy effort to advise regulations regarding waste
management system including reducing waste from its source in regional and national level, based on regional
and national database between Plastic Ocean Free Network in Marine Protected Areas of Indonesia, especially
in Alor Regency. Furthermore, Plastic Free Ocean Network can be a partner to support the waste management
and recycle education for the community, through education and religious sectors. In addition, further research
on the technology to utilize plastic waste is needed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors thanked Alovonso Fanisius Gorang, Chancellor of the Tribuana Kalabahi University and
Muhammad Erdi Lazuardi, former Project Leader of WWF-Indonesia Lesser Sunda Subseascape who supported
various facilities during the research. This research was also supported by environmentalist volunteers including
government agency staffs in Alor Regency, Mualim Prasong, Elvi Nenci Padafani and Alorese youth
communities and Universitas Tribuana Kalabahi students who are members of the Plastic Free Ocean Network
in Alor Regency.

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