The latest Recycle for London campaign is using mobile technology to encourage Londoners to think before they throw away their rubbish and to feed their recycling habit instead.
The campaign, which launched yesterday, puts the recycling message directly into peoples hands with a mobile game. The game has been translated for mobile use by London-based mobile marketing agency Incentivated, which says that this is the first time that such technology has been used for a public sector campaign.
The game challenges the user to starve their hungry evil bin by catching all recyclable materials in a green recycling box. Players score points for every item caught, but if the evil bin eats three items which should be recycled, its game over.
The game has been built as a Java application. By texting BIN to 62967, players receive a link to a mobile Internet site where they can download the game, ringtones, wallpaper and a  30-second ad. iPhone users can download the game from the Apple Store. The iPhone version uses the handsets gyroscope: by tilting the phone left and right, the player moves the bin left and right. All users can forward the game to friends.
Despite recent reports of a downturn in the market for recycled materials, the Mayor of London is confident that the recycling market will recover. Over 60% of the rubbish we throw away can actually be recycled and yet Londoners on average are recycling only 20%  of their waste. Now everyone in London can recycle paper, glass and cans at the very least, and the message from the Recycle for London campaign is to reassure people and encourage them to recycle more.
In London, we throw away so much rubbish that could actually be recycled – it is an important resource which is simply being chucked away, says Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board. I am very excited that the new Recycle for London campaign is using innovative technologies to boost recycling and my message is to starve your bins and recycle, recycle, recycle.
For the first time, the Recycle for London campaign will feature in TV ads, in addition to radio, press and online ads and bus and Tube posters. The campaign is funded by the London Waste and Recycling Board, which is chaired by the Mayor. The London Waste and Recycling Board has a budget of 84 million to deliver funding to boost recycling and ensure London's waste is managed sustainably, with minimal damage to the environment.
The ad campaign was devised by WCRS, while the media campaign was planned and bought by Mediaedge:cia (MEC), with strong digital elements planned by MEC Interaction, the online, digital and direct response arm of MEC. The activity follows on from the initial burst of activity pre-Christmas for the Greater London Authority to develop The Bin character further. The character, used previously in a game to promote recycling in London, will be voiced this time, and will appear in ads featured on pre-rolls on ITV.com as well as on TV and on Capital Radio. MEC Interaction has also negotiated for the video ad to run on user homepages of Facebooks Green Cause Cluster in London, an audience defined by their Green page content and interests.
Incentivated Commercial Director Robert Thurner believes that adding a mobile game with a viral element to the mix is a smart move by Recycle for London.
The game is intuitive and fun, and reflects a fast growing trend by brands to harness the advances in mobile technology which mobile users are now adopting readily, says Thurner. At the same time, RfL is raising awareness of the serious need for us to change behaviour and recycle more each and every day.
Theres more information about recycling in London here.