The Challenge
Illegal dumping is an ongoing problem for municipal waste management teams. Cleaning up dumped trash can cost municipalities a significant amount each year, and dumping also damages infrastructure and requires environmental restoration.
The municipality was frequently affected by dumped trash, which resulted in:
- Regularly scheduled waste management trucks being unable to collect the trash piles and mattresses.
- Manual collection services being dispatched reactively rather than on optimized routes and loads.
- A reliance on enforcement officers and residents to report trash piles and mattresses, which could take weeks.
The Solution
Blackbook AI built an annotated dataset using historical data from smart-enabled trucks and in-cabin triggers.
Using GNSS-linked camera footage from the garbage trucks, a computer vision model detects trash piles and mattresses and pinpoints their location. An API then sends the municipality the street addresses of locations that need a curbside pickup.
The Outcomes
The municipality was able to unlock the value of its raw camera data to drive decision-making.
Key outcomes included:
- Significant cost savings from route and load optimization of dispatch services.
- Faster response times for pickups.
- Targeted campaigns and response monitoring.
- Improved coverage through existing garbage truck schedules, with less reliance on enforcement officers and residents.
