Our journey through our NPA partner regions began in Donegal (Ireland) and this week we are going to visit Derry and Strabane (North Ireland). EMERGREEN project partner Derry City and Strabane District Council will be introducing a virtual recycling chatbot to help answer public waste and recycling queries.

Derry City and Strabane District Council called on the public to help come up with a catchy name for a new Chatbot service to help with its recycling campaign and from that they came up with RIA, short for ‘Recycling Information Assistant’.

The Chatbot service will sit within the Recycling section on the Derry City and Strabane District Council website and assist the council with providing information to the public about local recycling services.

RIA will improve accessibility to sustainability information for members of the public and businesses, including those in peripheral areas. Also, the chatbot service will improve communications on Waste and Recycling services through digital offerings and better deliver the service to the public with reduced staff overheads.

Though the use of chatbots is not unusual in the private sector, usage for public services is not widespread. So, RIA is quite a pioneering innovation by Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Find out more by clicking on the video!