Single-Use Plastic Restrictions in Bali

Bali’s plastic restrictions: shoppers and businesses

A café serves a drink with a plastic straw, while the shop next door still sells water in a small disposable bottle. If Bali has restrictions on single-use plastic, how can both things happen? Part of the answer lies in enforcement. The more important part is that Bali's rules address different products and different people.

Governor Regulation 97/2018 identifies three categories: plastic bags, polystyrene foam and loose plastic straws. Circulars issued in 2025 introduced further directions for commercial premises, packaged drinks, public institutions and foreign tourists. A rule for a producer does not automatically describe what happens to a guest carrying a bottle, and a retailer's duties cannot be inferred from a product's appearance alone.

For someone living on the island, a reusable bag and a dependable drinking-water refill are straightforward ways to avoid unnecessary packaging. A café or villa operator has a more involved decision: what is the item, who supplies it, and which provision covers that activity? Everyday practice varies, so a plastic wrapper seen in a shop is neither proof of permission nor proof of an individual offence.

What Bali Governor Regulation 97/2018 actually covers

The first useful distinction is already in Article 4 of Governor Regulation 97/2018. Its three named types of single-use plastic, or plastik sekali pakai (PSP), are plastic carrying bags, polystyrene foam and plastic straws. A generic plastic takeaway tub is not automatically the same product as a polystyrene-foam box.

The wording for straws is unusually precise. Article 1 describes a loose straw supplied separately, whether at retail or wholesale, and distinguishes it from one attached to a drink package as part of the packaging. That definition helps when a customer asks about a café straw versus a factory-packed drink. It does not settle the separate packaging restrictions introduced later.

Articles 6 and 7 address the people and companies making, distributing, supplying or providing the listed items. They require replacement products and prohibit the corresponding activities involving those single-use items. Article 9 also addresses use by individuals and businesses. These are distinct legal acts: a production restriction and the act of handing a bag to a shopper should not be described as if they were the same provision.

The regulation includes administrative enforcement provisions, but its text is not a ready-made price list of fines for every plastic object. A merchant evaluating stock needs the exact category and business activity; a shopper usually needs the simpler answer of whether a bag or loose straw is necessary in the first place.

Plastic bottles and Bali’s 2025–2026 policy changes

The widely quoted “under one litre” rule has a precise subject. Section V.4 of Bali Governor Circular 9/2025 prohibits businesses from producing drinking water in single-use plastic packaging smaller than one litre within Bali Province. It is a manufacturing provision. It does not, by itself, say that every person found holding a 600 ml bottle is automatically fined.

There is more to the same circular. Section V.5 separately prohibits distributors and suppliers from distributing products or beverages in single-use plastic packaging in Bali; it does not repeat the under-one-litre threshold. Section V.6 addresses businesses providing single-use plastic. For hotels, shopping centres, restaurants and cafés, Section IV.C also covers plastic bags, straws, foam packaging and plastic-packaged products or drinks, alongside reuse and refill arrangements. A buyer assessing wholesale stock cannot rely on the bottle size alone.

Provincial announcements in 2025 discussed a transition for existing small-bottle stock and an intended halt to production by January 2026. Those statements explain the policy direction, not whether every product on every shelf has already disappeared. The exact status of a shipment or a supplier's proposed substitute still calls for current guidance.

Foreign visitors have an additional rule addressed specifically to them. Circular 7/2025, the code of conduct for foreign tourists, expressly lists the use of single-use plastic bags, foam, straws and plastic beverage containers among prohibited conduct. That language should not be erased from an English-language guide. At the same time, it is not a self-contained schedule of automatic penalties for possession of an unopened bottle; enforcement follows the applicable laws and facts.

Another 2025 circular has a narrower institutional audience. Secretary Circular 2/2025 covers Bali provincial offices, provincial organisations and designated schools, directing them away from plastic-packaged drinking water and food and towards reusable drinking bottles. It should not be presented as an identical instruction to every independent retailer.

The provincial government's May 2026 update described continued oversight of hotels, restaurants and cafés. Businesses therefore have reason to treat the rules as active, while recognising that a policy deadline and verified compliance at a particular premises are two different things.

Shopping bags and takeaway packaging in everyday Bali

Grocery shopping is the easy case. A reusable tote means no need to negotiate over a bag at checkout. You may still see disposable bags being offered, sometimes within a short walk of a store that no longer provides them. That difference says something about local practice, not whether the provincial text has vanished.

Takeaway meals are less tidy. A single order can arrive with a foam clamshell, a plastic lid, disposable cutlery and an outer carrier bag. Regulation 97/2018 specifically names foam, bags and loose straws. Circular 9/2025 adds wider business directions, including plastic-packaged goods and drinks. The material of each item, and who is offering it, makes the answer more specific than “plastic containers are allowed” or “all containers are banned.”

A useful note for a restaurant is “Tanpa sedotan dan kantong plastik, ya” — no straw or plastic bag, please. “Tanpa alat makan” asks for no disposable cutlery. You can send the request wherever the ordering process lets you message the business. There is no basis for assuming every delivery app has the same packaging controls.

When unwanted packaging arrives anyway, the restaurant is usually the right place to ask about an alternative. A driver may have had no role in selecting the container. Sealed retail goods raise a separate distribution question under Circular 9/2025, so they should not simply be grouped with a loose straw handed across a counter.

Practical substitutes for single-use plastics in Bali

Most residents need fewer replacements than packaging adverts suggest. A bag that folds into a pocket works for ordinary groceries, and using the same one for years makes more sense than collecting fresh “eco” bags at every checkout. Refusing an unwanted straw is an even simpler change: no replacement product is needed.

A refillable water bottle is genuinely useful only when the water comes from a source suitable for drinking. Do not assume untreated tap water on Bali is safe. At an accommodation or café offering refills, the sensible concern is the quality of the water and maintenance of the dispensing system, not just whether the dispenser looks clean.

Reusable food containers can work for pickup orders, but the kitchen has to agree and be able to handle them hygienically. Hot curries and sauces are not ideal for a loosely sealed jar, and a long delivery trip may make a personal container impractical. Asking for no spare cutlery or unnecessary outer bag often removes waste without changing how the food is prepared.

Packaging described as compostable, plant-based or paper needs a second look. Some paper food boxes have plastic coatings; a compostable material may need processing facilities the recipient cannot access. Product composition and an actual local disposal route are more useful than a green logo. For personal purchases, the lowest-friction alternative is frequently to skip the disposable item altogether.

What a small shop, café or villa operator should check

A café can change its drinking straws overnight and still be buying the wrong food boxes. Packaging usually enters the business as a collection of small purchasing decisions: bags from one supplier, cup lids from another, takeaway containers bought in bulk and bottled drinks supplied with their own labels. A green sticker on one of those cartons is not evidence of legal compliance.

The useful unit of review is the individual stock item. Record what it is made of and what the business actually does with it: manufacture, distribute, stock for sale, provide free with an order or use behind the counter. The three named categories in Regulation 97/2018 are the starting point. Circular 9/2025 brings in additional obligations for commercial activities and plastic-packaged products, so a wholesaler's issue may be different from a barista's.

Supplier documentation matters here. If a replacement container is marketed as compostable, its composition and required disposal conditions should be stated clearly. Paper can carry polymer linings; a visually similar food box may contain polystyrene foam. Samples also need to work for the food being served. A container that collapses during delivery is no practical substitute, regardless of the claim on its packaging.

The change then has to reach the people handling orders. A purchasing list prevents old items being reordered; kitchen staff need to know which packaging is approved; delivery descriptions should match what the customer will receive. Refill arrangements should use drinking water whose safety is established. For a villa manager, the equivalent questions arise around complimentary water, guest amenities and the way supplies are purchased. A privately managed villa and a licensed hotel may face different operational obligations, depending on the business status.

Circular 9/2025 also deals with waste management and reporting through the environmental approvals applicable to an operation. Not every small shop has identical reporting requirements. The sensible boundary is to resolve the packaging decision here and confirm any permit-specific duties with the relevant environment office, rather than assume a generic set of hotel obligations applies to all businesses.

When a business still offers plastic: verify before escalating

Seeing a plastic bag offered at a checkout does not answer the legal question. The bag's composition, the activity taking place and the relevant provision still need to be identified. A sealed bottle, a loose straw and a foam meal box may all be disposable, yet their treatment under the provincial documents is not identical.

For a specific shop or shipment, useful evidence is mundane: a photo of the item and label, material specifications if available, the date and the name of the business. Asking the seller what alternative is offered may resolve the practical problem. A formal question can go to the environment office for the relevant city or regency (DLH or DKLH); Satpol PP deals with the enforcement of regional rules. Asking about an exact product and activity is far more useful than reporting “plastic”.

Bali's provincial civil-service police published examples of site visits in 2024. A government update in May 2026 again discussed oversight of hospitality businesses. Those are two separate pieces of evidence about enforcement activity, not a basis for inventing a universal fine or promising a café will be shut immediately after a complaint.

The applicable version of a rule and the facts of the transaction govern any actual outcome. Before committing to wholesale quantities, or responding to an inspection, a business should confirm the current text in Bali's legal archive and obtain advice for its particular operation. This guide explains the published rules; it is not an individual legal opinion.

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