#NEC #BECC JAPAN #AI Waste Game

NEC Innovators Win Award for AI-Driven Waste Management Game

NEC Solution Innovators recently celebrated a remarkable achievement at the 12th Climate Change and Energy Saving Action Conference, BECC JAPAN 2025, held on August 27. Their innovative research project, a waste management game utilizing generative AI, was honored with the coveted Novelty Award.

BECC JAPAN was initiated in 2014 as a Japanese version of the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change conference, which originated in the U.S. in 2007. This platform brings together experts from diverse fields to collaboratively explore effective strategies for understanding and influencing environmentally responsible behaviors in our society.

The award-winning research investigates how communication with generative AI can influence human behaviors in relation to environmental considerations. The AI used in the project has been tuned with Human Digital Twin Technology, allowing it to mimic human-like behaviors. The central focus of the study was whether participants could be encouraged to dispose of waste more responsibly, opting for resource recycling over general waste disposal.

In this study, approximately 400 participants were split into two groups; one interacting with the generative AI in their team and another team without AI assistance. The main objective was to engage in the 'Waste Management Game,' designed to simulate the challenges faced by business owners balancing profit with reduced environmental impact. Participants played the game in triads across ten rounds, tasked with managing waste produced from their