Motivations-Apps und Gamification in der Abfallwirtschaft

In light of the high proportion of biogenic waste in residual waste and the need to improve biowaste recycling, the “KüKeN” project promoting a kitchen bin for energetic (biogas) recycling was launched to test new ways of collecting and cascading biogenic waste from households. The focus is on the use of digital media technology to increase motivation and improve collection quality. The background to gamification, the state of the art in sensor technology with regard to the technical implementation of the kitchen bin and the state of the art of apps in waste management are presented as the basis for further developments in this project. The conception of the interactive kitchen bin in combination with a motivational app is based on a user-centered design process, whereby nudging is used as approach for separation and collection motivation. The main target group of the KüKeN app is children and young people, who act as multipliers to spread knowledge and commitment to the topic of waste separation in their environment. Based on user and stakeholder workshops, the KüKeN app was developed with three components, namely a chatbot for information, a game to impart knowledge and a game to maintain motivation. After presenting the results of the smartphone application, the article gives an outlook on the upcoming use of the app in the test region.