Busting Illegal Trash Dumpers using Artificial Intelligence

Most of you would have heard of the Bermuda Triangle, but have you ever heard of the Triangle of Death? It is located in a district called Campania in Italy. It holds a triangle of trash and is widely known as Europe’s largest illegal waste dump. 

The situation in Campania is worsening because its residents start waste fires on a regular basis, which contributes to the contamination of air and drinking water. In 2014 and 2015, the Italian government conducted health screenings to understand the drastic increase in the number of reported illnesses in Campania. Extensive research was carried out using the data found in these health screenings. The study found more instances of leukemia, lymphoma, etc in one of Campania’s districts. It attributed this increase in cancer and cancer mortality with toxic exposures from illegal waste.

The local administration in Buccino, Italy decided to introduce a video surveillance system to identify and punish people who engage in illegal waste dumping. They felt that these violators were endangering public health through this thoughtless act. 

Fly-tipping or illegal dumping of trash is something we see every day. It happens in your neighborhood, in your city, in your office complex and so on.

Fly-tipping or illegal dumping of trash poses a major problem for all of us. The rank odor is a lesser evil when compared to the amount of environmental pollution it causes. This pollution results in both short term and long term health issues such as congenital illnesses, respiratory infections, and cancer.

The World Bank announced that our global waste production is predicted to rise by 70 percent by 2050 unless we take urgent action. This means that proper waste regulation should be a top priority for government and private organizations alike. For example, the healthcare industry must take extra caution with waste disposal as improper waste management can result in the spread of diseases through medical waste. Incinerating medical waste produces large amounts of dioxins, mercury and other pollutants which are extremely harmful. 

Video surveillance is one way to regulate the dumping of waste. But is it enough? Regular CCTV cameras can monitor a particular area, but they require human resources to be on the constant watch for illegal trash disposal. Furthermore, they will not be able to identify the person involved in the act. 

Busting Illegal Trash Dumpers using AI

Real-time video analytics solutions such as Emotyx prove to be very useful in detecting illegal trash dumping. Organizations that are already using CCTV cameras can simply plug the software into the system for it to start functioning. Such solutions can prevent the illegal disposal of waste to a large extent as they automatically identify such acts and send alerts to concerned departments accordingly. Moreover, it can analyze the face of the person disposing of the trash and match this face with pre-existing data. This allows for the accurate identification of the person disposing of the trash.

Identification of illegal trash dumping and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) features of Emotyx can be a powerful duo to fight against the illegal trash disposal. ANPR software locates the number plate of a vehicle as it is passing by, through the use of ANPR cameras. It then attempts to read and interpret these number plates. After this, a log of all the plates is created along with associated information such as date, time and GPS location. After this is done, the software can search for a plate in the database and provide information about the vehicle or its driver. In case the driver of a particular vehicle is seen dumping trash, Emotyx can identify the vehicle and send out alerts to the concerned authorities instantly. 

Who can benefit?

Video analytics can prove to be useful in a variety of government and private organizations. Cleanliness is of paramount importance in hospitals and clinics. Most of them are already fitted with CCTV cameras, but these are not enough to ensure immediate action, in the case of illegal trash disposal. Video analytics can automatically detect the disposal of waste and sends out alerts to the concerned person so that the trash can be taken care of. Smart cities make use of surveillance to a very large extent. Video analytics can help keep these cities clean and trash free by alerting law enforcement authorities when fly-tipping occurs. Many private organizations would also find this solution useful, as it will help them identify people who dump trash on their premises so that the appropriate action can be taken.

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