Almost every year Koas collaborates with local institutions to offer students opportunities to enhance their studies or address a problem alongside Koas. These activities often involve project work or theses. This blog post highlights two students who undertook a project for Koas in spring 2024, focusing on how to shift mindsets and make waste sorting easier for everyone at Koas.
Hello fellow students!
We are master’s students from the Corporate Environmental Management (CEM) program at the University of Jyväskylä. As part of one course, we were tasked with a project for a company or organization. Koas offered a project to increase sorting and recycling rates, which caught Julius’s attention as a fan of behavioral economics. He teamed up with Chathura, and together they saw this as an ideal chance to gain practical experience in field experiments while supporting Koas’s goal of maximizing recycling efficiency.
Practical experience in recycling
We started with a survey to understand the current state of recycling among residents and gather feedback on potential improvements. We aimed to keep the survey quick and convenient but also allowed residents to express their concerns.
Working with Koas was a positive experience. Hilla Hoskonen, the Development and Communications Manager at Koas and a former CEM student, was extremely helpful and supportive throughout our first practical project. After compiling our findings, which included theoretical insights and survey results, we presented our recommendations to Koas.
Resident feedback and suggestions
The survey, conducted among residents of Koas Myllyjärvi, Ristonmaa, and Ykköspesä locations, received responses from 142 residents, exceeding our expectations. We found that while most residents were aware of and engaged in waste separation, challenges like limited space in apartments, distance to disposal areas, and differing waste habits among roommates persisted.
Residents expressed interest in having designated recycling bins in apartments and requested more guidance on waste separation. Suggestions for improving infrastructure, such as providing sufficient bins and closer disposal areas, were also forwarded to Koas. We thank the residents for their active participation, which provided valuable insights for future improvements.
We are grateful to all who responded to our survey, which greatly assisted our report. For everyone, we encourage patience, enthusiasm, and perseverance in recycling efforts. Let’s all do our best—together, we can make a difference! Happy autumn and remember to recycle <3
-Julius & Chatura from CEM at JYU