Russia Is Rolling Out AI Trash Monitoring
Starting this fall, regional authorities in Russia will use artificial intelligence to watch over garbage collection sites, promising cleaner streets — and tighter control.
In September 2025, the Chelyabinsk region will debut a video surveillance system powered by artificial intelligence to monitor trash collection sites. The technology, developed by Moscow-based company NtechLab, is already in use across several Russian regions, according to the newspaper Vedomosti.
The system analyzes live feeds from surveillance cameras and flags violations in real time: overflowing dumpsters, scattered trash, or illegally parked cars blocking garbage trucks. It also automatically alerts regional waste operators when pickups are delayed.
Similar AI tools are already integrated into Russia’s federal solid waste management system, which tracks more than 1.1 million collection sites. In that system, AI scans photographs taken by garbage truck drivers, spotting violations such as banned waste — old tires, broken equipment, or tree branches.
For Russia’s utilities sector, these systems represent a shift: artificial intelligence is becoming a new standard in municipal services, pitched as a way to make cities cleaner and more livable.
