Social gaming company Guerillapps has launched “Trash Tycoon,” a social game on Facebook which has a focus on environmental issues. The game aims to increase awareness of environmental issues and sustainability, while it highlights the concept of upcycling — where discarded waste is repurposed for a valuable use. What’s particularly interesting about this is that you can receive in-game rewards for recycling material in real life.

In the game, you can collect litter in a city covered in trash and upcycle waste into valuable, environmentally friendly products. The upcycling process ranges from finding uses for plastic bags to creating a home out of discarded material. You can create other items such as jewelry, toys and furniture, which you can either keep for yourself or sell for profit. When you complete missions, you will collect virtual money and points to help you rise up the rankings and become a garbage tycoon.

The game’s overall aim reflects that of its sponsor TerraCycle — which is a collection and solution program for waste that is typically non-recyclable. The 21 million people who participate in TerraCycle’s recycling programs earn 2 points, equivalent to 2 cents, for every piece of waste they collect and return to a TerraCycle kiosk.

These points will flow to “Trash Tycoon,” where you can get special bonuses including in-game money, special decorative items or exclusive badges that will let you show your in-game friends that you are recycling goods in real life as well as in the game. This functionality will be launched in the coming weeks.

“Trash Tycoon” allows you to team up with your friends in a multiplayer environment to collaborate in real-time and clean up the virtual city. Your friends can help you regain energy and speed up production. The game also incorporates real-world brands in the form of, for example, an empty Kraft box or wrapper. This gives the game a little extra real-world bearing to help establish that “Trash Tycoon” has a strong message at its heart.

Raviv Turner, co-founder and CEO of Guerillapps, said:

Something as simple as a social game where players earn points for recycling in the real world is capable of changing people’s behavior for the better. We’ve organically integrated real-world recycling goals into the game to ensure that players have fun and see Trash Tycoon first and foremost as a game, while at the same time presenting a proactive approach for more mindful actions as users approach real-life situations with acquired knowledge from Trash Tycoon.

The fact that actions you carry out in real life, particularly actions that will help create a sustainable future for the planet, will have an in-game impact makes this a game worth checking out. Incentivizing players to participate in TerraCycle’s recycling programs by offering in-game rewards could help boost recycling levels and increase awareness of sustainability environmental issues.

You can check out “Trash Tycoon” for yourself by installing the game on Facebook.