(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

"Not now" was the sentiment echoed by Kamloops councillors yesterday when debating whether to use artificial intelligence to find out who is following the curbside recycling rules.

The technology would have cost nearly $100,000 to add it to seven garbage trucks and would be used to minimize contaminated recycling bins and pinpoint the rule breakers.

Five city councillors and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson voted against the technology at a meeting yesterday, March 5, but most left room to bring the issue back in a year.

"I am concerned that we need an education campaign first," councillor Katie Neustaeter said. "I am concerned that moving ahead with this feels to people like ramming government down their throat, as opposed to bringing them along in the process."

The city is using the technology to avoid more than $60,000 in its own annual fines from RecycleBC for contaminated recycling.

Neustaeter said it's something that may help the city run its garbage and recycling department more efficiently, but that residents aren't ready for it.

"I'm not scared that anyone is spying on me through my garbage. That's not a very high concern for me around technology," Neustaeter said.

Residents who responded to a city survey, however, do have that concern.

Out of around 600 people who responded to the online survey, more than 80% said they don't want the technology scanning the contents of their recycling bins.

Many were concerned about their privacy.

At least some of the trucks already use cameras, but the new technology would take a "high level" scan of recycling as it's dumped inside, according to department manager Glen Farrow.

He said the trucks would tie the contents of each bin to a home via a serial number on each bin.

"So it's determining this is a garbage bag, this is plastic, this is styrofoam or a hunk of wood," he said. "It's not scanning the labels on your soup container or your envelope."

Corporate services director David Hallinan said it appeared people may have been directed to respond to the scanner technology specifically, as there were only around 100 responses to each of the seven other items being considered for the 2024 budget.

Councillor Kelly Hall said he's in the not now category, but open to bringing artificial intelligence technology to the trucks later. That idea was shared by Neustaeter and Hamer-Jackson. Like Neustaeter, others councillors weren't concerned about keeping the innards of their recycling bins private.

Some councillors said residents have been transitioning with the organic bin program and a long delay in bin pickups around Christmas, so they wanted to postpone the technology and avoid adding another new item to the department.

Hamer-Jackson and Hall suggested the city watch for results in other places like Kelowna before committing to the fund.

Councillor Nancy Bepple wanted to see the program adopted as the city routinely sends people to check bins in order to stave off contaminations.

She also said it belongs to the city anyway.

"Recycling that goes to the curb is the property of city once it goes to the curb, so we are scanning our recycling," Bepple said.

Hamer-Jackson, Hall, Neustaeter, along with councillors Mike O'Reilly, Margot Middleton and Bill Sarai voted against the program, which would have also added a new routing system for the trucks.

It would have cost around $211,000 to put the routing system in 17 trucks and AI in seven of them.

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