REFA
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A public utility focused on waste and energy services
REFA works with waste and energy management, ensuring responsible disposal, recycling, and energy production. REFA is owned by Lolland Municipality and Guldborgsund Municipality, and supports citizens with practical information that often matters in everyday situations.
REFA’s activities cover five main areas, energy recovery from waste, waste landfilling, collection of household waste and recyclable materials, operation of recycling centres, and production and distribution of district heating and electricity. With many services and topics, the website plays a central role in helping citizens find the right guidance quickly.
Helping citizens find the right answer, without searching through menus
Citizens typically arrive with concrete questions, and they expect fast, clear answers. The content is important, but when information is spread across many pages, it can be difficult to know where to look, especially for visitors who just need a quick answer before taking action.
REFA wanted to make it easier for citizens to find guidance across the five service areas, and at the same time offer a digital extension of customer service that is available 24/7. A key part was also creating visibility into what people actually ask about, so REFA could continuously improve how information is written and structured.
A chat that answers directly, or guides citizens to the right place
Karla is integrated on refa.dk so citizens can ask questions and quickly get help, either as a direct answer, or as a guided path to the relevant page. The chat is designed to feel natural and easy to use, and it is built as an extension of customer service that works around the clock.
In practice, Karla helps citizens with questions across REFA’s services, for example where to deliver specific waste types, what rules apply, or where to find pricing and guidance. A typical example could be: “Where do I dispose of asbestos?” Karla searches the knowledge base, explains the correct solution in simple terms, and links to the relevant page where the citizen can read more details, including requirements and prices when relevant. This keeps the user supported through the full process, instead of leaving them with a partial answer.
“The chatbot Karla, which we have on our website refa.dk, has made it easier for citizens in Lolland and Guldborgsund Municipality to find the answers they are looking for on our website. Karla is a user friendly tool that quickly and easily helps with answers, either by providing a direct answer or by guiding users to the right place. In the analytics tool, we gain valuable insight into what citizens are searching for and which topics they often have questions about. This insight has made us more aware of how we adapt our communication, so we can meet citizens’ needs even better. At the same time, we have been able to improve our texts and structure the information on the website, so it becomes even easier for citizens to get their questions answered. Working with the team behind Karla is a pleasure. They are extremely helpful, attentive, and always ready to assist, which has made the implementation easy. Their support has been a great help throughout the entire process.”
Lene Vind, Head of Customer Information and Project Management
