<Winner – Strategy Competition by Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR)>
Berlin’s official waste management and city cleaning service
This project was developed in response to a challenge posed by BSR: increasing food waste separation among Berliners in their 20s and 30s—a demographic identified as the least likely to participate in proper disposal practices.
Through research, I identified a core insight: individuals in this age group living in economically and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly less engaged in food waste separation. Contributing factors included lower income, limited education, poor housing conditions, and a general lack of institutional trust. Surprisingly, existing BSR campaigns—often reliant on costly recycled paper bags or broad, one-size-fits-all messaging—had failed to reach not only this group but also wealthier segments.
In response, I proposed a new strategy centered on social media engagement and behavioral incentives. The concept: a monthly prize lottery that rewarded individuals for posting photos or videos of themselves separating food waste using a designated BSR hashtag. This approach delivered motivation on two levels:
Tangible Motivation: Monthly prizes provided clear, physical incentives.
Social Recognition: Public sharing allowed individuals to demonstrate civic responsibility, appealing to both low- and high-income groups.
The campaign visuals featured real people from marginalized backgrounds, paired with the slogan: “Even I separate food waste.” To increase relatability and humor, another tagline read: “Yes, we know it’s a hassle.”
I independently developed and presented the entire strategy, competing against two German teams. My proposal earned over 60% of the internal vote from the BSR panel, winning the competition by a clear margin.
