Refrigerators used to contain chemical refrigerants which depleted the ozone layer. Those gasses are now replaced by so-called HFCs. After being carefully removed in the recycling process, these HFCs can be purified for reuse. Unfortunately, many of these chemical refrigerants are released into the atmosphere due to careless recycling. Even though they no longer damage the ozone layer, HFCs now contribute to an even bigger problem: global heating. These gasses have 1,000 to 9,000 times greater capacity to warm the atmosphere than CO2. The pollution created by one badly recycled refrigerator equals the CO2 emissions of driving a car for 7,500 km. In Belgium alone, 200,000 refrigerators are not properly recycled every year, accelerating the warming of our planet. Recupel organises the collection of discarded electro-appliances in Belgium and wanted to address this issue.

How to raise awareness about some invisible yet extremely harmful chemical? A TV commercial might do the trick, although chances are high you are looking for a snack in your fridge when it airs. Radio commercials, posters or banners may leave people cold as well. So, what if we sneaked into your refrigerator with a new medium …? And there it was: Recupel’s own sauce brand. The label on the mayonnaise jar said: “Be mayo-nice for the environment. Do not only recycle this jar but also the refrigerator in which you keep it.” The andalouse sauce had something to say too: “Do not be an andaloser.” Every time people opened their refrigerator – and that is a lot – they were reminded of the importance of bringing their old refrigerator to a recycling partner with the official Recupel label.

Recupel wanted to increase the number of collected refrigerators. To succeed, it aimed to attract more retailers to become official Recupel Collection Points. And for that to happen, Recupel wanted to make people aware of the (importance of) the Recupel quality label. That resulted in a target audience that was too broad. To increase accuracy on social media, we targeted people that see themselves as eco conscious, as well as movers and people who searched for refrigerators and freezers. A lookalike audience was created based on that target group to increase reach. People interacting with a certain ad were then retargeted with similar messages to increase frequency.

Due to the pandemic, traditional sampling at train stations or cooking events was not possible. We therefore decided to partner with Delhaize, one of Belgium’s biggest retailers. Everyone placing an online order via Delhaize Delivery received a free Recupel sauce jar. The message was reinforced in Delhaize’s monthly magazine, which has an audience of approximately two million people. To broaden the reach, we placed print ads in national newspapers and shared the message online via social media ads. To boost the message even more, we made an online video with Sofie Dumont, a popular Belgian tv chef, who visited a recycling centre together with her daughter. She supported the initiative and shared the video with her audience as well.

10,000 sauce jars were sampled in just one week via Delhaize Delivery. The increased awareness about the importance of recycling your refrigerator contributed to a 4% increase in spontaneous awareness for Recupel.