Perseverance pays. That must have been what our colleagues at Fost Plus were thinking when they received a gold BOA award for their media campaign in late 2025.

The BOA – or Best of Activation – in the ‘integrated communication’ category rewards campaigns that reach the general public through a variety of channels.

The fact that we were awarded the Sustainability Award as well really was the icing on the cake.

Of course, we don’t organise campaigns in order to win (possible) awards. The concept arose from the observation that the proportion of wrongly sorted material in the PMD bag continues to rise – even causing real problems.

Sorting errors not only mean a loss for the circular economy but also pose numerous risks for all people involved in waste collection or sorting – from sorting line failures due to blockages to injuries caused by sharp materials and even smoke or fire.

So we had to change tack in terms of the message to audiences. From instructional communication on the extension of the sorting message to cover all plastic packaging to increasing awareness of the impact of sorting errors.

Everyone knows that behavioural change takes time. So the campaign, featuring the catchy slogan “if it’s packaging, it can go in the blue bag”, an earworm by Céline Dion and a toy chicken, was aired on radio, television, in cinemas, online and outdoors.

By creating multiple touchpoints with the general public, the message entered the proverbial living rooms several times during the campaign.

Appropriate channels and content formats were used to avoid mental fatigue.

So have we managed to bring down the number of sorting errors now? Not yet, but we are seeing tentative progress.

By continuing to hammer home the message, balancing practical information with meaningful communication, we are increasingly succeeding in landing the message and creating impact.

The campaign was repeated in two waves in 2024 and revamped in autumn 2025. It is to be run again in early spring 2026.