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Case study

Reducing recycling contamination with Bin Your Nappy

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Organisation type

Public sector

Sector

Environment and sustainability

Service

Behaviour change

Campaigns

Content development

Design

Influencer engagement

Media buying

Media relations

Social media

Stakeholder engagement

Strategy

Video and photography

The brief

Recycling contamination caused by dirty nappies costs local authorities millions each year. In 2019/20, Biffa estimated the cost at £1.48m. North London Waste Authority asked us to develop a recycling communications campaign to reduce nappy contamination, encourage parents to dispose of nappies in general waste, and support their call for clearer labelling from manufacturers.

Insights and approach

We started by visiting the Materials Recovery Centre to understand the real-world impact of recycling contamination. Staff confirmed that dirty nappies were a persistent and unpleasant contaminant because sorting is done by hand. Polling showed one in ten parents admitted to putting nappies in household recycling, often because packaging displayed recycling symbols or because “disposable” was mistaken for “recyclable”.

These insights shaped a behaviour-led creative approach. Rather than blame parents, we built an accessible and memorable environmental behaviour change campaign — Bin Your Nappy — that gave people clear, simple guidance.

The campaign centred on an animated video rewriting a familiar nursery rhyme, voiced by local schoolchildren. Paid social ran across Facebook, Instagram and Spotify to reach parents across north London. We also equipped local authorities, health partners and children’s centres with posters and materials to reinforce the message.To support NLWA’s call for clearer labelling, we produced a LinkedIn video for Authority leaders to amplify to industry. The campaign continued into 2021 with humorous influencer content from The Scummy Mummies, helping the message reach new parents at scale 

Results

The story captured national attention, securing coverage across Sky News, BBC, ITV, Mail Online, Huffington Post and major online news outlets. London broadcasters produced in-depth pieces featuring interviews and extracts from the animation, reinforcing the behavioural message.
Regional uptake was strong, with a PA story syndicated widely. Social engagement was high, with broadcaster-shared videos generating tens of thousands of views and extensive audience interaction. The campaign successfully raised awareness, shifted understanding among parents and strengthened NLWA’s call for clearer product labelling.

  • 15

    national media items (target 2–3)

  • 15

    London items (target 5–8)

  • 184

    regional items

  • 70k

    social media impressions

  • 19.5%

    webpage click-through rate

“

We were really impressed with the time the Barley team invested at the outset of this campaign to get under the skin of the issue of recycling contamination, both in terms of the behaviours behind it and the impact on recycling. The Bin Your Nappy campaign they came up is so creative and perfectly designed to resonate with parents of young children. They were also really thoughtful in how this creative could best be deployed, introducing us to new channels to reach north London parents, particularly those who don’t traditionally engage with environmental messages. We were absolutely thrilled with the results.

Miriam Cragg

Senior Communications Manager, NLWA

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