The partnership has launched the Rethink Waste app, which is available to all Surrey residents for free and provides members with a personalised dashboard where they can access activities and resources to help them reduce waste and monitor their progress.
Once signed up, they’ll receive weekly emails with tips on reducing waste including an array of locally relevant, “engaging and gamified” activities such as pledges, videos and quizzes, all designed to “nudge residents towards small, yet impactful lifestyle changes”.
By taking part and engaging with content, members receive points, which can be used to enter competitions for prizes like iPads and TVs or make donations to charities or local schools. Schools that take part could be in line to receive funding from the scheme to run an environmental project benefiting the school and its pupils.
‘Confident’
Matthew Ball, managing director of Greenredeem, the company behind the app, said: “We’re delighted to be working with SEP to roll out Rethink Waste across Surrey. We’re confident that after a successful trial, the scheme will motivate Surrey residents to show their love for the planet by reducing their waste.”
The scheme was launched following a trail in Elmbridge in 2022-23, where 98% of those surveyed after the trail said they would reduce waste in future.
Surrey
The SEP is made up of Surrey county council and the other 11 district and borough councils in Surrey. It aims to manage Surrey’s waste in the most efficient, effective, economical and sustainable manner.
SEP chair Cllr Marisa Heath said: “The best thing we can do with our waste for the environment is to produce as little of it as possible, which is why waste reduction is a priority for SEP. And it’s why we’re so excited to launch Rethink Waste across the county. The scheme has been demonstrated to be a fun, engaging way for residents to make small changes that can made a big difference to how much waste they produce. We hope that our residents sign up and get reducing right away!”
The rewards scheme has been launched as the SEP said earlier this month it will use a “range of tactics” to increase its 54.5% recycling rate recorded in 2021/22 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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