This piece is part three of a four part series on plastic waste management. Read part one here, and part two here. Keep reading the Busara blog for parts three and four.

A typical Kenyan household uses a single bin for all types of waste, including organics, plastics, broken glass, paper, and metal. This mixed waste is often either burned or transported to dumpsites by waste collectors while recyclables are sold to scrap dealers, depending on what is most convenient for the family as well as the recycling systems available in their community. 

Mixing different types of waste reduces the quality of recyclables, negatively impacting the broader circular economy, something the average Kenyan household does not know.  According to our primary research and previous literature, other key reasons Kenyan households don’t recycle are the absence of infrastructure, such as segregation bins, and the perception of recycling as a boring and dirty task. Busara and TRANSFORM explored the use of novel intervention methods such as gamification to stimulate engagement and interest in proper waste recycling by creating fun and easy learning opportunities. 

Gamification, as a intervention design technique, involves using elements designed for games in non-playful environments to engage people and encourage specific behaviors (Bassanelli et al., 2022). In the context of waste management, gamification introduces game mechanics and sensory cues such as badges, points and leaderboards, to make waste segregation more experiential and enjoyable.

While recycling has not traditionally been perceived to be a fun activity due to the effortful nature of the task, recent studies have explored innovative methods to change this. For example, a smartphone app was developed in Italy to support waste recycling among citizens by providing features such as an updated waste collection calendar, reminders for collection days, a recycling guide, waste bin location mapping with real-time fill levels, drop-off location information, and a barcode scanning tool for quick waste identification (Bonino et al., 2016). The app aimed to make recycling more convenient and engaging through regular reminders, helpful guides, and easy access to essential information by focusing on habit formation.

In Finland, Santti et al., (2020) developed a game called “Fox the Recycler,” a social mobile game designed to encourage recycling behavior among young adults. The game significantly improved recycling rates, with bio-waste recycling increasing from 76% to 97% and plastic recycling from 25% to 84%. It used various gamification mechanics to encourage recycling behaviors, such as competition between different housing units, rewards for the top recyclers (e.g., culture and sports vouchers or credit for bus tickets), real-time feedback and progress tracking, and social interaction to make recycling a shared community goal. The game was also designed for easy access and use, which helped maintain high engagement levels among participants. With the game “Fox the Recycler”, one could draw out aspects such as social dynamics, competition, and rewards being pivotal in creating a community-driven recycling effort.

González-Briones et al. (2018) also proposed a framework that integrates gamification techniques with a multi-agent system (MAS) to encourage citizen participation in recycling efforts. The gamification techniques applied in the framework include providing rewards and penalties to users based on their recycling behavior which provides direct incentives. Citizens earn points or rewards (like discounts or tax reductions) when they recycle correctly, while penalties may apply for improper disposal. The system makes recycling feel like participating in a game, which increases engagement and commitment. The proposed system showed that citizen participation in recycling activities could increase by 32.2%, and the amount of recycled waste would increase by 17.2%. citizens.

We wanted to create a game that would teach respondents how to segregate waste effectively and emphasize the importance of using multiple bins, each designated for a specific type of waste. We drew inspiration from successes like the ones described above from the global north and incorporated key elements such as competition, feedback and leaderboards to facilitate behavior change.

Designing the drag and drop game

The drag and drop game was programmed on oTree and simulated real life recycling scenarios by having participants sort virtual waste items into their respective bins. Other key components of of the game included:

• Use of common households waste items: Common waste items found in Kenyan homes were labeled in both English and Kiswahili. We ensured there were enough items for each waste category – plastics, paper, metal, and organics.
• Color coded waste bins: Four different waste bins in distinct colors, each correctly labeled – the ‘Green waste bin’ for organic waste, the ‘Red waste bin’ for paper waste, the ‘Blue waste bin’ for plastic waste, and the ‘Grey waste bin’ for metal waste. The bins shown in the game were color coded exactly the same way as the actual bins to simulate the same recycling/ waste disposal scenario.

• Immediate feedback: The feedback mechanism in the game provided two types of reinforcement to guide players on proper waste segregation: sound effects and a points system. For positive reinforcement, a bell sound played and 50 points were awarded when a player correctly disposed of waste. For negative reinforcement there was a buzzer sound and 20 points were deducted when a player made an incorrect disposal. The game consisted of four rounds, with five items to sort in each round, using both auditory cues and point adjustments to encourage correct waste disposal behavior. Upon completion, detailed feedback clarified the correct bin categories for any incorrectly disposed items.

• Repetitive game rounds: Each player began with one practice round, followed by four rounds of gameplay. Repetition was a crucial feature of the game, designed to reinforce learning by allowing players to repeatedly engage in the correct waste segregation behaviors. It gave players multiple opportunities to refine their actions using the feedback provided after each round, encouraging them to form positive habits over time.
• Leaderboard: Additionally, a leaderboard displayed the scores of all participants, showing each individual’s points and ranking within the group. This introduced social competition, motivating participants to improve their waste disposal skills. The visibility of scores encouraged friendly rivalry and engagement, reinforcing learning through peer comparison and competition.

After completing the game, participants were given refreshments that generated waste similar to some of the items they had sorted and were then required to dispose of the actual waste items into the correct bins as shown in figure 3. This hands-on component reinforced the lessons learned during the game and allowed participants to directly apply their skills, making the educational experience more practical and easy to apply.

Gamification leads to an increase in recycling behavior, but why?

The observed outcomes  from the game interventions could be likely due to the following reasons:

• Visualization: The recycling game facilitated participants’ understanding of waste segregation by requiring them to engage in tasks such as dragging and dropping waste items into designated bins, helping them visualize the waste segregation process by using the waste items and bins that they encountered later in the experiment and by mimicking real-life disposal scenarios.
• Learning: It is probable that participants experienced a degree of learning over successive, repetitive rounds of the recycling game, thereby gaining familiarity with the segregation process. This may serve as an initial step toward ingraining waste segregation as a habitual behavior.
• Feedback and reinforcement: During each round and at the end of the game, participants were shown which items they had sorted correctly and which ones they had sorted incorrectly, along with the correct bins for proper disposal. This approach helped encourage good recycling practices and discouraged incorrect ones. 

Gamification – a valuable tool for encouraging proper waste management

The use of gamification as a tool for better waste management strategies presents a promising opportunity to reshape recycling behaviors in Kenya. As our experiment demonstrated, integrating game elements into waste segregation practices can significantly improve accuracy and boost participants’ confidence in their ability to dispose of waste correctly. 

Limited access to digital tools, varying levels of literacy, and cultural and language differences may affect the broader application of such an intervention in Kenya and other countries in the Global South. To maximize impact, it will be crucial to adapt gamification strategies to local contexts, involve communities in the design process, and ensure that infrastructure, such as segregation bins, is in place. We must also invest in innovative methods to expand the reach of gamification in waste management.

Despite these challenges, the potential of gamification as an instrument for behavior change is immense. By making recycling more engaging and interactive through gamification, we can transform it from a mundane chore into an educational and fun activity that can foster long-term behavioral change. Gamification can inspire sustainable practices like recycling, turning a routine that was once seen as boring or tedious into a rewarding experience. We can engage people in the process and help them build new habits that are more environmentally friendly by simply turning recycling into a game.