New AI cameras will give fly-tippers nowhere to hide

New CCTV cameras with Artificial Intelligence are to be added to the council’s arsenal of weapons in the fight against fly-tippers.

The AI cameras have 360-degree vision and can recognise when someone is fly-tipping, sending an immediate report to the team.

It means staff will not have to wait for the fly-tipping to be reported to investigate it and can respond immediately.

The new cameras are being funded through a £49,119 grant from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).

They can be mounted on any surface and will be used alongside existing CCTV cameras to monitor fly-tipping hotspots in the area.

City of Wolverhampton Council is one of 26 authorities in England to be given a share of nearly £1million grant funding from Defra to continue its innovative approach to tackling fly-tipping.

The quality images captured by the new cameras will be used on Shop a Tipper lamppost posters and leaflets, which ask the public to identify those responsible for breaking the law by dumping rubbish.

If the information provided leads to successful identification, and Fixed Penalty Notices are issued and paid or a prosecution takes place, residents receive a £100 Enjoy Wolverhampton Gift Card.

Alongside the new cameras the grant funding will also be used to help provide  extra infrastructure to prevent vehicles dumping waste in secluded areas that are not owned by anyone.

It will also mean more resources to expand the Shop a Tipper campaign through more posters and leaflets featuring the faces of culprits caught on CCTV.

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, Cabinet Member for Resident Services at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “Fly tipping is a blight on the local environment and it will not be tolerated in Wolverhampton.

“We are focussed on making our city a cleaner and greener place to live and we will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who thinks it is okay to illegally dump rubbish wherever they please.

“AI enabled SMART cameras will make it easier for our enforcement team to identify those who commit this environmental crime while funding will also help provide infrastructure to protect our targeted spaces.

“This will help build on the success of our Shop a Tipper campaign, which has already helped reduce fly-tipping by 50 per cent in the areas we have targeted.”

Residents can contact 01902 552700 with information or report online at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/reportflytipping

Residents are reminded that waste can be disposed of free of charge at our Household Waste and Recycling Centres (tips) which are open 7 days a week from 8am – 4pm. Centres are at Anchor Lane, Lanesfield, Bilston and Shaw Road, Wolverhampton.

A bulky item collection service to dispose of big unwanted items is also available, find out more at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/recycling-and-waste/book-bulky-item-collection