SAN MATEO COUNTY — Sneaking a paint can into the trash or squeezing one more Amazon box on top might cost you more money than it saves. Some of California’s largest waste management providers, have launched surveillance programs aimed at regulating customers' trash habits.
As of April 15, Bay Area hauler Recology confirmed that cameras have been installed on the majority of its residential garbage trucks serving 11 cities in San Mateo County. Companies such as Waste Management, which serves 181 cities from San Diego to San Francisco, have been not only taking photos but also recording video from their trucks, which the company claims is aimed at reducing overages.
"To ensure safe collection service and prevent refuse from spilling onto sidewalks and streets it is important that all properties subscribe to the volume of service they truly need and to keep container lids closed," Robert Reed, the Recology public relations manager, told Patch. "We recognize that a small percentage of customers, unfortunately, significantly overload their containers on a regular basis."
The automated system captures images of garbage bins during routine pick-ups. These photos are transmitted to Recology staff, who review the footage to identify overfull containers — defined as bins with gaping lids or extra bags placed outside the receptacle.
"We have implemented a system to identify refuse containers that are significantly overfilled," Reed told Patch. "The system also helps ensure that our customers are aware of the impacts of overfilling their containers and helps meet state and city requirements to increase recycling and curbside composting."
While the initial phase focuses on trash cans rather than recycling or compost, the initiative is designed to enforce capacity limits through digital evidence.
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The program includes a tiered enforcement strategy. Residents caught with overflowing bins will first receive two warnings via email, letter, or phone, accompanied by the photographic evidence. Subsequent violations will result in additional fees ranging from $7 to $15 per offense.
Reed told Patch that the offenders, by far, make up the minority of customers.
"Maybe there's 400 stops on a route, and what we're talking about here is 2 percent or less of the customers on that route," Reed told Patch.
This technology rollout is not limited to the first 11 cities in San Mateo County. Similar systems are reportedly being deployed across Recology’s service areas in the cities of Auburn, Dixon, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Vacaville, Vallejo, Dixon and in Sonoma and Humboldt counties.
"The biggest garbage companies in our industry have been doing this for six years, they've been putting cameras on their trucks, particularly their commercial trucks," Reed told Patch.
Waste Management, which serves 181 cities in the Golden State, touts its trash cameras on its website..
"Truck-mounted cameras have assisted our drivers for nearly a decade," the company boasts. "Today, this technology also helps us make your service more efficient and sustainable by keeping an eye out for two obstacles that can slow down service and prevent a second life for your materials: overloaded containers and contamination...Technicians review the footage to make sure materials were placed in the correct container and collected successfully."
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