Wasted Labs

Wasted is an autonomous project under CITIES Foundation, an Amsterdam-based non-profit that seeks to find solutions tailored to local needs using community engagement and active research.

While waste separation is high in most of Holland, Amsterdam, with its high percentage of low income families, was lagging behind country statistics in this area. 

WASTED provides a simple way to turn consumers' waste (glass, paper, textiles, plastic waste) into discounts and rewards at local retailers, shops, restaurants, and cafés. It was also designed as an educational tool about waste separation and to provide motivation to put the lessons into practice. 

The organization is currently working with 800 people. Participants can subscribe to the WASTED website by creating an account. After subscribing, each participant receives a start-up kit equipped with 12 WASTED trash bags, a poster about how the process works and all the information needed for separating the plastic, glass, paper and textile. 

Before disposing of the contents of a bag at the nearest traditional recycling container, the participant:

• Scans the QR code on the recycling container, using the QR scanning application on their smartphone,
• Uploads a picture of the full WASTED bag and throws the bag into the container. 

Once it has been verified, the participant receives coins in their account. As a reward, the participants get a digital WASTED coin that can be cashed out for discounts and benefits at various offline or online stores.

Many local businesses are supporting the project by becoming Rewarders and providing discounts. Discounts can be applied to coffee, beers, events, soups, bike repairs, massage, yoga lessons, bitterballen, dinners, tools, furniture and more. Whole neighborhoods in Amsterdam Noord are participating in the program.

CITIES cooperates with the Municipality of Amsterdam to promote recycling. They also worked with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment on a pilot program to educate secondary school kids and adults on plastic. WASTED’s efforts have been reported in the Guardian.