Evaluating Bacteria Bins for Plastic Waste Reduction in New Zealand

This project assesses the efficiency of innovative bacteria bins designed to reduce plastic waste in New Zealand, based on protocols from the New Zealand government. The evaluation focuses on the degradation of PET plastic by Ideonella sakaiensis, examining the Solid Waste Analysis Protocol (SWAP) and landfill data. The assessment methods include monitoring pH changes in the bins, surveying landfill data, and using questionnaires for landfill operators. The data collected will be compared with the Ministry’s landfill data, considering the number of disposal sites, bin volume, and disposal charges. The aim is to quantify the reduction in plastic waste and evaluate the effectiveness of the bacteria bins in promoting sustainable waste management practices. The project also addresses the health issue of plastic pollution and sustainability, proposing bacteria bins as an innovative solution for plastic recycling and removal in New Zealand's urban areas.

To assess the efficiency of the innovative bacteria bins which have been introduced to
reduce plastic waste, the evaluation system would be based on the following protocols of the
Government of New Zealand (Perrot & Subiantoro, 2018). Following the installation of the
bacteria bins, the reduction of the plastic waste by the degradation of PET by Ideonella
sakaiensis can be assessed by the following protocols and thereby highlight the efficiency of the
bacteria bins.
Solid Waste Analysis Protocol (SWAP) by the Ministry for the Environment (New
Zealand) is a baseline programme which provides information on solid waste’s composition at
the indicator sites present in New Zealand along with surveying the data on individual waste type
such as plastic, glass, paper, rubber and so on (Seadon, 2010).
The waste evaluation programme will quantify the amount of plastic degraded in the
bacteria bins and few ways of assessment are by detecting of the change of pH in the bacteria
bins. Due to degradation of the PET metabolizing bacteria Ideonella sakaiensis, a reduction of
pH will be noted from neutral pH to acidic pH due to the rise of the metabolic waste products
after Ideonella sakaiensis degrades PET and generates metabolic by products such as methanol,
ethanol and so on which will make the pH of the bacteria bin acidic. This change in the pH will
not be seen in the non bacteria bin, thus this pH lowering can be a useful technique of assessing
the efficiency of the bacteria bins.
The data of the waste collected at the landfills can be surveyed from the reports collected
by the landfill operators along with the feedback regarding reducing of plastic collected from the
landfill and sent for recycling (Perrot & Subiantoro, 2018). The landfill data based on the weight

of the waste disposed is vital to assess the reduction of the PET and plastic waste with the
installation of the bacteria bins.
A basic questionnaire could also be handed out to the landfill operators to gain
knowledge whether the bacteria bins has been collected by the appropriate person, designated to
collect it and survey it along with the details of their working shifts and time tables to assure
accuracy of the data (Carter, 2019). The collected information and data must also be compared
with the Ministry’s landfill data and updated with respect to the following.
 The number and locality of the disposal sites
 The volume and the number of bacteria bins taken
 The consent information whenever applicable
 The details of the site operator
 If any disposal charges were paid
 Classification of disposal sites based on Waste MI NZ landfill system of classification

References
Carter, L. (2019). Aotearoa/New Zealand Adaptation Strategies and Practices. In Indigenous
Pacific Approaches to Climate Change (pp. 71-84). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.
Perrot, J. F., & Subiantoro, A. (2018). Municipal waste management strategy review and waste-
to-energy potentials in New Zealand. Sustainability, 10(9), 3114.
Seadon, J. K. (2010). Sustainable waste management systems. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 18(16-17), 1639-1651.