CHALLENGE #2 – FOLKEMØDET

Waste Management at Folkemødet 2020
by Ensemble

verdensmaal-streg

Problem

During Folkemødet (FM), more than 32.8 tons of waste is generated , which is a lot to handle with infrastructure not built to fit the number of people at the festival. Up until 2019, waste was handled by external trash collectors directly at the stalls, so employees just put their waste outside the stall. In 2020, this was supposed to change into a new waste management system by introducing four waste stations with the possibility to sort in 10 fractions. This means that stalls now need to sort and bring their waste to a waste station to avoid fines. FM suspects it will be challenging getting stalls to follow the new regulations and has asked Ensemble to solve the given challenge: 

 

“How do we design our new waste stations at

FM to encourage stalls to sort and bring their waste to the waste stations?”

 

The challenge is then to identify barriers to achieve the desired behaviour, to have the most successful transition towards a new waste management system. 

 

Solution

Our solution is composed of different elements, each working together to ensure waste is brought to the waste stations and sorted correctly. Stalls participating at FM will already be informed about the solution in the newsletter before FM. This way, they will have enough time to adopt different elements. 

Waste Sorting Pledge

 

Stalls will be given the opportunity of getting and signing a Waste Pledge , which is a poster that can be displayed at their stall during FM. By signing and displaying this Waste Pledge, the stall owners show their commitment to a cleaner FM. That commitment can be seen by the visitors and other stall owners. 

 

 

The waste pledge can be ordered for free through the newsletter before FM, and is also proposed to stalls at check-in. In the case the members an organisation sent to FM aren’t the same as those planning the journey, this makes sure that everyone concerned has been informed correctly about our solution. 

Sustainability Pledge. The pledge is formally formulated in Danish for FM to be utilised at the festival.

Presorting System

 

Stalls will be offered to buy a presorting system, to enable sorting directly at the stall. The presorting system is a set of DropBuckets, with special-designed stickers, corresponding to the fractions that are recycled at FM. 

 

On the stickers are pictures and a list of items that fall into this fraction (marked with a green “✓”), and items that are commonly missorted, marked with a red “X”. Another sticker informs the users about the benefits of sorting – amongst others the kilos of CO2 saved by kilo of sorted waste for each fraction. The stickers are also used on the containers at the waste station. The colour of the respective fraction helps avoid any confusion. Stalls are offered to buy the presorting system before FM in the newsletter, and at FM at the check-in.

Informational Video

 

A short video explains the solution and its different parts in a clear and concise way. It links the solution to the overall goal, sorting more and better – limiting the use of raw materials. It also stretches the collective aspect of the solution and invites the individual to take action “come, and be part of making a more sustainable FM together “. The system demarcation shows that FM fails to communicate the new sorting system. Thus, the video helps communicate the new waste measures in the newsletter before the festival.  The video can also be used in other promotional mediums by FM.

Logo and hashtag

 

The hashtag of the initiative, #ZeroWasteFM, is displayed with the initiative logo (fig. 39) on all parts of the concept to bind it together. The hashtag can be used by users to share their commitment to making a cleaner FM, which will promote the initiative on social media. The hashtag appears in the newsletter, on the Sustainability Pledge and on the stickers.

Impact

By addressing FM’s waste management problems with a holistic approach, the solution’s impact should propagate out through the higher system levels and affect other actors and thereby help support SDG 11, 12, and 13. 

 

As mentioned earlier waste stations are implemented at FM to reduce the impact of waste incineration by increasing the fraction of recycled waste. This entitles a behavioural change at the festival, and gives the opportunity for a systemic impact.
Our research highlights that there is a need for a behavioural change that entails correct sorting and taking responsibility for the trash generated. A system analysis shows several barriers that need to be overcome to achieve the needed behavioural change. The barriers include stalls’ lack of knowledge about the newly introduced waste management system, lack of motivation to use the system, and low ability to correctly use the new system.

 

The barriers present themselves in the form of an expected problem of missorted waste at the artefact level. The problem that this project aims to solve, is therefore the one being that Stalls at FM 2020 are anticipated to neither fully understand nor follow procedure according to the new waste management system.

Links for more info

Report HERE  

Client video HERE 

Exam video HERE

Team