Mapping seasonal marine debris patterns and potential hotspots in Banten Bay, Indonesia

Banten Bay is a 150 km2 sea area which includes the waterfront of Serang City in Banten Province, Indonesia with several large rivers flowing into the Bay. The rapid development of industrial and commerce surrounds this bay added with population growth in Serang City have caused environmental problems. For instance, there has been a surge in the volume of domestic and industrial waste that has been dumped along several rivers and finally leaked into Banten Bay. This study aimed to spatially visualize the existing waste flow from residential area to the location of landfills in order to assist the local government in evaluating their waste management system, and to help prevent the waste leaking into Banten Bay and even further beyond. By using hydrodynamic modelling and ground truthing, we can predict the potential waste hotspots and the seasonal patterns of marine debris around Banten Bay and its surroundings. The results show that plastic litter originating from the Cibanten River will drift to the west during the east monsoon and will move to the east during the west monsoon. Based on this evidence, plastic litter from the Cibanten River estuary has the potential to spread further towards the Sunda Strait during the east monsoon and into Jakarta Bay during the west monsoon. We encourage cooperation among local governments in Banten and West Java throughout the watershed as well as with the Jakarta Provincial Government to establish an integrated waste management system to prevent the waste leakage.