From confusion to compliance: A deployment-ready mobile application for harmonising recycling guidance across UK local authorities.

Abstract

Household Recycling performance in the UK remains uneven, driven in part by fragmented location-specific guidance across local authorities (LAs) that contributes to citizen confusion, wishcycling and contamination of recycling streams. The introduction of England's Simpler Recycling Policy in March 2026 represents a major step towards standardising household waste collection; however, while the policy harmonises what councils must collect, it does not resolve how citizens receive accurate, localised guidance on material acceptance and preparation. This paper addresses this gap through the design and assessment of a deployment-ready, citizen-facing mobile application that harmonises recycling guidance across LA boundaries while remaining responsive to local variation. Grounded in Design Science Research (DSR), the study documents the transition from a previously validated dynamic wireframe into a fully functional cross-platform mobile application. Design decisions are informed by prior user-centred evaluation, while the technical architecture enables scalable, location-aware guidance through separation of application logic and LA-specific content. The resulting artefact is evaluated against Lau's criteria of utility, quality and efficacy, drawing on behavioural evidence from the earlier prototype study.