The Click in Aalst: encouraging residents to take responsibility in the fight against litter
Fost Plus is working with the city Aalst to promote a cleaner and greener community
Aalst, - The city of Aalst is working with the Click and is launching a major campaign against litter. With an alarming 20% increase in litter collected in 2022, it had become clear that action was needed. In response, the city, in collaboration with Fost Plus, is introducing “the Click”, an innovative reward project designed to encourage positive behaviour and promote a lasting change in the way we handle waste.
“Don't be a killjoy”
In the past month, 24 associations, companies and volunteer groups in Aalst have joined forces to rid the streets of waste. In addition, 800 pupils in 12 primary schools took in the campaign of the intermunicipal body ILvA against litter, armed with rubbish bags to ensure that their neighbourhood stays clean.
To reward these efforts and encourage good citizenship, the city of Aalst is presenting its campaign known as “Wees geen pretbederver” (‘Don’t be a killjoy’), addressed to polluters who throw their waste away in the streets. Its strong message exhorts individuals not to wreck their neighbours’, friends’ and fellow citizens’ environment. To support this initiative, the City of Aalst is launching “the Click”, an ingenious tool that gives residents an incentive to pick up litter.
The Click in Aalst
The Click application rewards users who dispose of waste in a responsible manner, scanning the barcodes or capturing images of the waste they have collected and then throwing the items in the appropriate bin. Users accumulate digital points, known as Circular UCoins, that can be exchanged for vouchers at local retailers as well as at national partners, such as Natuurpunt, Bol.com, Kinepolis, AS Adventure and Decathlon.
Not only does the Click encourage positive action, but it fits in perfectly with the overall approach taken by the city as regards the fight against litter. By incorporating this reward mechanism, Aalst aims to create a lasting change in behaviour, complementing effective enforcement. The city is aware that litter is first and foremost a problem of behaviour, and therefore seeks to mobilise various target groups by means of innovative approaches.
Since it was launched, the Click application has become very popular, with more than 80,000 active users who have already registered nearly 906,295 clicks (05/06/23). The clicks represent waste that has been successfully thrown into the right rubbish bins, thus contributing to a cleaner environment.
The Click project will be closely monitored throughout the year in order to evaluate its impact on the change in behaviour by residents of Aalst. The city of Aalst wants citizens to act responsibly and contribute to the community. To this end, they encourage the use of the app, invite local merchants to make vouchers available in the app, introduce the Click at city events and make the sorting infrastructure more visible.
What is the Click?
The Click is a new approach, launched by Fost Plus, to fight litter. It is a participatory project that uses a system of rewards to encourage everyone to adopt good practices aimed at keeping public spaces clean.
How does it work? With the Click app, users scan or photograph their waste or the litter they have collected, before throwing it into the right bin. In so doing, they receive Circular UCoins, virtual points to be exchanged for advantages and discounts.
The Click in figures:
- 906,295 clicks (as at 05/06/2023)
- 80,182 users (as at 05/06/2023)
- 8 partner municipalities (Aalst, Blankenberge, De Haan, Tournai, Genk, Middelkerke, Namur, Torhout)
- It is possible to click everywhere in Belgium via the “Click” application.
- Pre-sorting of 2,978 tonnes of materials from public rubbish bins in the partner municipalities, of which an average of 22% are recyclable materials
Valerie Bruyninckx