Zero Waste Circular Management Service -RIA (Recycling Information Assistant)
About this good practice
RIA is a service which was developed under the EMERGREEN Project funded by NPA. Ria (Recycling Information Assistant) is a good practice produced by Derry City and Strabane District Council, its directed at citizens. It is an innovative service using AI technologies to create a chatbot. The RIA chatbot is used on the Councils recycling website, it is a zero-waste circular management service. Its purpose is to inform the public about their recycling options. Additionally, the system assists the public in reporting issues more easily and freeing council staff from dealing with mundane enquiries. Ria is a 3-component zero waste/circular management service providing a website, recycling app and chatbot.
Resources needed
Derry City & Strabane District Council partnered with Finland, Ireland (Donegal & Galway), Faroe Islands and Sundsvall (Sweden) to work together on the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014-2020 funded EMERGREEN project. The budget of the project was €1.6 million.
Evidence of success
- 70% decrease in calls to booking line since launching the online recycling booking system, this is freeing council staff from dealing with mundane enquiries.
- App downloads: 872 (as of 31/7/22)
- Traffic to new website: 60,758 Pageviews of which 57,369 to recycling page (stats from 22/05/20 – 02/08/22)
- Working with NGOs and community groups through co-creation and testing has increased goodwill, improved access to sustainability information and empowered citizens.
Potential for learning or transfer
The service implemented by the Derry City and Strabane District Council could easily be replicated by another region by collaborating with local AI technology providers.