_{The camera resolution can differentiate material types (cardboard vs. yard waste) but isn’t high enough to decipher sensitive personal information that may be contained in curbside waste such as brand names and document text. The City of Kelowna, District of Lake Country, District of Peachland and Central Okanagan East and Central Okanagan West electoral areas currently receiving curbside collection will be subject to the cameras. The District of West Kelowna is not participating in the program. Photo: Contributed} Repeatedly tossing the wrong materials into your curbside waste carts could find you receiving a $150 fine in Kelowna.

Starting this month, new technology will be used to enforce Solid Waste Management bylaws for Kelowna, Lake Country, Peachland and Central Okanagan electoral area residents receiving curbside garbage and recycling collection and the bi-weekly pick up of yard waste between March and the end of November.   

Regional Waste Reduction Office manager Peter Rotheisler says “We’ll monitor compliance by individual households using technology approved last year in the three municipalities and two electoral areas.  Collection trucks are mounted with cameras that can differentiate the type of materials dumped into their hoppers from the wheeled waste carts, imbedded with radio frequency identification tags linking the carts to a specific address.”

Residents placing improper items in the cart will be notified by the Regional District of a problem: either materials that were not supposed to be in the cart or that the cart was not set up properly at the curb.  They’ll also receive a copy of photos taken at the time of the infraction along with educational material on what should or should not be included in the cart.   For subsequent violations, the offender’s municipal bylaw department will be notified and the resident could receive a $150 fine.

While the overwhelming majority of residents in the participating program areas put the proper materials into their carts, some people don’t. “This new approach” he says, “is meant to specifically target individual households and residents that are misusing the curbside program, something that isn’t possible with traditional awareness, education and advertising campaigns.”

“Contaminating the various waste streams is expensive and unnecessary. The wrong item in the garbage, recycling or yard waste cart can damage equipment, cause workplace injuries and typically costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for extra monitoring, sorting, handling and equipment.  It’s an ongoing problem that has not improved in recent years.  We anticipate this targeted monitoring and enforcement program will bring some improvement.”

There are other benefits to the program.  Data collected will help address resident inquiries about missed collections, improve route efficiency, monitor contractor performance, evaluate contract costs, help identify and study trends in waste management behavior and evaluate pay-as-you-throw based billing structures.  

For more information on what to recycle or on the curbside automated program, visit regionaldistrict.com/recycle, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call the Regional Waste Reduction Office at 250.469.6250.