Dallas to install AI cameras on garbage trucks to fight illegal dumping
The Dallas City Council voted last week to install cameras backed by artificial intelligence on yard waste and trash collection trucks, in an effort to combat illegal dumping and improve neighborhood cleanliness.
According to a press release, the cameras will be mounted on the sides of sanitation trucks starting early next year and will automatically take photos of curbsides as crews drive their regular routes. The photos will be analyzed by AI software to spot issues like trash piles, illegal dumping and whether residents are disposing of their bulk waste correctly.
The new system is hoped to give Sanitation Department staff and code compliance officers a more accurate picture on what’s happening across the city to help improve collection routes and cut down on unnecessary mileage.
“This innovative technology delivers responsive solutions that all our residents deserve to keep our neighborhoods clean and safe,” City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said in the release. “It is a smart-city approach to an everyday challenge.”
Other cities are also turning to AI tools to help improve trash and recycling collection and detect street hazards.
The Solid Waste Management Division in Tacoma, Washington, installed AI cameras on garbage trucks in August to reduce contamination in household recycling and the amount of waste placed in the wrong bins. In September, San Jose, California, launched the second phase of its road safety conditions pilot project, which automates the detection of potholes, trash and other hazards, using AI cameras mounted on city vehicles.
The American Civil Liberties Union has, for at least a decade, raised privacy concerns about the use of surveillance technology on municipal vehicles like trash trucks, arguing that it constitutes government monitoring of citizens’ activities. While the technology may have limited legitimate uses, like spotting street hazards, the organization worries that widespread deployment for general data collection invades privacy.
“This kind of automated garbage monitoring raises very serious privacy concerns,” reads an ACLU post from 2015. “While encouraging residents to recycle is commendable, any program involving the government’s systematic monitoring of citizens crosses a line. The contents of your trash can be surprisingly revealing.”
The Huntsville, Alabama, City Council this year voted to temporarily pause a proposal to mount AI-powered surveillance cameras on garbage trucks after residents pushed back with concerns over privacy and the broader implications of using AI for public services.
To protect resident privacy, the Dallas City Council said its AI camera system will blur faces and license plates captured in the images.
