Elkjøp, the Nordics largest tech retailer, is a big believer in the circular economy where recycling of e-waste is of vital importance. Last year recycling at their stores was down by 6% and the world is running out of valuable metals from finite natural resources.

Elkjøp wants to encourage more electronic recycling to create a more sustainable industry. How can a tech retailer play a part in giving technology a second life, and get the younger generation too recycle for the good of the planet?

Your old gadgets might seem like a worthless piece of plastic, but they are actually a goldmine. Producing electronic devices such as phones and computers involves the extraction of valuable minerals and metals from finite natural resources. Real mining harms the planet. Urban Mining helps to protect it. So how can a tech retailer help cultivate a better recycling habit?

We created a new e-waste recycling service based on the gameplay mechanics of the world’s most popular game, Minecraft, called Urban Miner.

In Minecraft you mine for resources to create the world you want. So we brought this gameplay behaviour into the real world and encouraged people to mine their old gadgets for Minecoins they can use back in the game.

The partnership between Elkjøp and Microsoft (the owner of Minecraft) brought this idea to life like never before, for the first time bringing Minecraft characters out of the game and into the real world.

The idea demonstrated how valuable your old electronics actually are. And we did it with a simple message: Become an Urban Miner. Your old gadgets are a goldmine. Recycle them at Elkjøp and get Minecoins in return.

Every company wants to be more sustainable, the challenge was to make the behaviour change appealing and engaging.

Our strategy was to tap into the world's most popular game to reach our target audience and convey an important message that resonates with how they behave in game – there are millions of old gadgets lying around in Nordic households that should be recycled. By offering Minecraft currency as a reward for recycling e-waste, we connected Elkjøp with a huge and growing community of gamers, a large proportion of which falls into the campaign’s target audience: 15- to 21-year-olds comprise 43% of the player base, and under-15s account for around 21% of players. That younger audience then went on to educate the “older people” in their lives – an added bonus.

Our approach was to be lighthearted and optimistic and show people that it can feel good doing something good.

The campaign stayed authentic to the Minecraft universe. While all other campaigns using Minecraft only exist in custom game servers nobody experiences, Urban Miner took the game into the real world. The campaign is centered around miners from the Minecraft universe hacking gadgets to pieces with their pickaxes as Minecoins spew out all over the place. Throughout the campaign we showcase a variety of old gadgets and how valuable they can be if recycled.

The campaign launch was coordinated to go live in-store and in media in 4 countries simultaneously. All Elkjøp stores was running the campaign material all over their screens and on posters. Each section in the stores showed old gadgets relevant to that section as an educational element. We also deployed influencers and gamers to show their fans how easy it was to deliver their old gadgets to Elkjøp and taught them about the importance of recycling.

Urban Miner is an ongoing recycling service that has engaged and harnessed the power of the entire Minecraft community. With Phil Spencer, Aaron Greenberg and other big names in the gaming world endorsing it, we have returned some impressive numbers. On Twitter the film has more than 4 millions of unpaid views. On TikTok, it’s getting five times the number of views that a regular Xbox video would get, and gamers are flocking to Elkjøp stores with their old gadgets to get Minecoins.

Urban Miner has created an e-waste mining boom. Elkjøp has so far experienced a massive 13,8 % increase in recycled e-waste, received over 17 tons of old gadgets and given out more than 9 million Minecoins.