Effective Waste Management Through Nudging and a New Signage System

In collaboration with Avfall Sverige, Familjebostäder, and Bostadsbolaget in the City of Gothenburg, the project aimed to improve waste management and recycling in multi-family housing. The goal was to address challenges faced by many municipalities: poor sorting, incorrect disposal, and disorder in waste rooms, all of which lead to higher waste management costs, more residual waste, and lower quality of sorted materials.

Through Nudgd’s Smart Nudges Waste & Recycling platform, we applied behavioral science techniques specifically designed to engage, inform, and encourage residents to recycle, sort, and reuse more. The platform was tailored to different audience segments and personas and included engaging content such as eye-opening arguments, smart tips, an interactive map, and educational quizzes.

In addition to the digital platform, physical nudges were also used in the project. With the aim of promoting more sustainable waste management, Avfall Sverige’s clear and unified signage system was combined with smart nudges in waste rooms to influence sorting behavior. These actions included:

• Installing Avfall Sverige’s consistent and easy-to-understand signage, based on clear visual symbols, to support correct sorting.
• Developing behavioral question-based signs placed above the waste bins to prompt active thinking, encourage reflection, and reinforce correct sorting.
• Painting the walls behind the waste bins to visually clarify which waste belonged in each bin.
• Information efforts that explained how and why waste should be sorted in a particular way, increasing understanding and engagement among residents.

The project aimed to reduce the amount of residual waste and decrease waste management costs by 10 percent. By combining the new signage system with strategically placed nudges, the project achieved remarkable results that exceeded expectations. Here are some of the standout outcomes:

• Reduction in residual waste: The interventions led to a decrease in residual waste of between 13.2 percent and 26 percent, demonstrating the significant impact of combining informative signage with behavioral nudging.
• Increased cost savings: These measures also resulted in waste management cost reductions of between 13.3 percent and 25.6 percent, highlighting not only environmental benefits but also clear economic advantages.

These figures illustrate the project’s success in not only meeting but surpassing its goals. Through strategic planning and implementation of nudging techniques, the project delivered substantial improvements in both waste management and cost efficiency, providing a promising path forward for similar initiatives.