Following a successful pilot program, the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) and waste hauler Environmental 360 Solutions Inc. (E360S) are permanently implementing AI-powered technology on recycling trucks to reduce contamination across the region.
The RDCO’s AI pilot program, which ran from October 2023 to March 2024, reduced contamination in curbside recycling carts by 23%. The system uses truck-mounted smart cameras with AI-based visual recognition and GPS technology to scan collected materials, identify non-recyclables, take photos of contaminants and generate educational postcards mailed directly to residents.
Starting this month, residents needing to improve their recycling will receive yellow informational postcards in the mail. “The postcards provide personalized feedback to help residents correct their recycling habits,” says Cynthia Coates, RDCO Solid Waste Supervisor. “We aim to increase awareness and understanding of what goes in those carts, what is causing a problem and how to fix it.”
“This technology is a game-changer for recycling education. It significantly reduces the time and effort required to review and generate contamination reports, ensuring more accurate and efficient communication with residents,” says Coates. “It is also much faster and more efficient than Recycling Ambassadors physically inspecting each cart.”
The agreement with Recycle BC requires contamination rates to be at five percent or less, but recent audits have been consistently higher. Data from the 2024 pilot program revealed that while 45.9% of Central Okanagan residents recycle correctly and another 35.6% changed their behaviors after receiving one educational postcard, 6.7% of households, labeled as repeat offenders, were responsible for over a third of the contamination. The AI-powered program will provide valuable information on areas that will require extra education or additional enforcement to keep contamination rates on the decline.
“Environmental 360S is committed to enhancing the region’s recycling efforts through this smart technology,” says Jan Andersen, District Manager Kelowna E360S. “We will install the AI-powered system on all recycling trucks in our fleet, replacing our current system that requires drivers to record contamination manually. This new AI system ensures consistent monitoring across the entire region, streamlining staff time and resources. Reducing contamination is part of our contractual obligation with the RDCO and member municipalities and we are pleased to use this state-of-the-art system to help improve contamination across the region.”
The AI smart camera technology, powered by Saskatchewan-based Prairie Robotics, has been deployed to more than thirty communities across Canada and the US since 2021, with high success rates in both recycling and organics collection.
For more information on what to recycle, download the Recycle Coach app or visit rdco.com/recycle.
