Balinese should be careful about what they throw in the trash, given how long it takes some times to fully break down and decompose, explains Head of Bali’s environment agency (BLH) Gede Suradana.
“If anyone has broken glass in your house, do not discard it. Collect it and later, let the scavengers take it,” Suradana said on Wednesday afternoon, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
“It can be later recycled again into useful objects. Because, if it’s discarded, the disintegration time is up to one million years,”
In a presentation for the women of Dharma Wanita Persatuan, Suradana outlined just how long it takes some types of garbage to decompose. We knew some of these, but were kind of surprised by others (who knew painted wood took so long?!).
Here they are, as published by Tribun:
- Paper trash, 3-6 months
- Fabric, 6 months – 1 year
- Cigarette filter, 5 years
- Chewing gum, 5 years
- Painted wood, 15 years
- Fishing line, more than 600 years
- Plastic, at least 100 years
- Metal, at least 100 years
- Glass, 1 million years
Photo: Flickr
