Gamification will make recycling a fun experience
The gamified recycling house is a new type of waste sorting that will make recycling a nice and fun experience. The house is the result of a research project at Linnaeus University, in collaboration with, among others, Kalmarhem and Kretslopp sydost. Last Wednesday, the house, located outside the residential building Kajalen in Kalmar, was inaugurated.
That the recycling house is “gamified” means that the users will become engaged in the recycling with the help of inspiration from the gaming world. Via an app, they receive challenges, goals and quizzes that are to be carried out, which are then awarded with medals. During the upcoming six months, fifteen households in the neighbourhood will be test pilots on the project.
Neat, smart and fun
The background of the project has been to move away from dark and foul-smelling recycling rooms and instead turn recycling into something pleasant and fun.
“The objective is to make recycling an experience through a neat, smart and fun recycling house. Neat in the actual design of the house, which fits well in most environments with its mirror façade. Smart with the help of “Internet of Things”, to see, for instance, how full the waste containers are. And fun with the help of gamification, where residents download an app with challenges linked to recycling”, explains Joacim Rosenlund, project manager at Linnaeus University.
Each month, the users receive a new challenge. This can be, for instance, to learn how to fold and cut their paper and paperboard packaging in a smart way, or to reduce their total use of plastic packaging. In addition, they receive quizzes for which the aim is that they will learn more about recycling. By completing the challenges and quizzes, you are awarded with medals and move on to the next level, you “level up”.
A recycling house can be something beautiful
In the recycling house, the households will sort their newspapers and packaging from paper, plastic, metal, clear and green and brown glass. In addition to measuring the amount of waste, more smart functions will be added to the recycling house during the period. For instance, providing feedback to the user and thanking for the waste. After six months, an evaluation will be carried out and based on this it will be decided whether the house will remain in place or be moved to a more permanent location. Rosenlund hopes that the gamified recycling house will change how we view recycling.
“My hope is that, through this project, we will be able to show that a recycling house can be something beautiful that we choose to exhibit instead of hiding away. I also hope that more people will understand the importance of recycling and that we learn more about how we can encourage well-functioning waste sorting”, Rosenlund concludes.
The project is funded by The Kamprad Family Foundation. The recycling house has been designed by the architect Maria Rutensköld together with building technology students.
Contact:
Joacim Rosenlund, project manager and researcher, +4672-594 96 83, joacim.rosenlund@lnu.se