AI Vision for Waste Services: Capture more revenue, reduce costs, and resolve disputes faster.

Most automations today focus on the work that happens in the office. But what about the manual work your drivers and field workers do every day, like logging service issues or site hazards? What if you could see what they’re observing and automatically capture that data in real time?

Today, we’re excited to introduce AI Vision for waste services — computer vision models that automatically capture overages, contamination, and visual proof for service verification. The result: more revenue, lower costs, and faster dispute resolution, all without manual input from your drivers.

Grow your revenue with AI-powered Overage Detection

To most people, an overflowing trash bin is just a mess. But to those in the waste industry, it’s a revenue opportunity — a billable event. The only way to capture that revenue today is by asking your driver to stop, pull out a tablet, and take a picture. It takes time, delays routes, and often doesn’t get done.

That’s why we’ve partnered with leading waste companies to train custom AI models that accurately detect overages, day or night, rain or shine, without manual driver input. Motive’s new AI-powered Overage Detection automatically detects if a waste container is overfilled, generating an overage event with visual proof to send directly to the customer.

Overages are classified by severity so you can prioritize the accounts that need attention most. You can bill accurately for excess, upsell customers to a larger bin, or move them to a more frequent pickup schedule. 

Motive’s AI-powered Overage Detection detects 10x more overage events than a human operator, which translates to $2 million in potential annual revenue¹ for a waste operation with 100 trucks. And this isn’t just a concept. This AI model is already generating revenue for customers today. Overage Detection is available on the Motive AI Dashcam Plus for commercial front loaders, with AI Omnicam support for residential side loaders coming in Q3 2026.

Resolve customer disputes faster with Service Verification

When a customer calls to say their bin wasn’t picked up, proving the service took place is harder than it should be without reliable documentation.

The Motive AI Dashcam Plus and AI Omnicam automatically capture visual evidence at every service event. Timestamped media with GPS location verify when and where each pickup occurred, and service exceptions like blocked or not-set-out bins can be easily identified. Media is available in real time, no more waiting for video to be manually recalled.

Simply search an address and a date in the Motive Dashboard, and you’ll quickly get a visual record of what happened. Disputes can be resolved on the spot. And beyond customer calls, service verification data can help you identify missed stops, incomplete routes, and opportunities to optimize schedules across your operation. 

Service Verification is currently available in beta.

Reduce costs and stay EPR compliant with AI-powered Contamination Detection

1 in 4 items placed in a recycling bin isn’t actually recyclable. When contaminated loads reach a sorting facility, the contaminants get rejected. That means losing the value of the recyclable materials you collected, plus the time and cost of a second haul to the landfill. And by then, there’s no way to know where it came from or how to prevent it from happening again.

AI-powered Contamination Detection on the AI Omnicam detects contamination at the point of service, so you can follow up with customers to address issues before they result in costly fines. The AI model identifies contaminants like black bags, propane tanks, and filled yard bags during collection, with visual evidence, location, and timestamp for every event. Contamination Detection will be available in Q3 2026.

Over time, this data helps you identify repeat offenders and support customer education campaigns.

Solve more operational problems with AI Vision

Waste services is where we started, but the Motive’s AI Vision platform can be leveraged to solve operational problems across industries, from vegetation overgrowth and pothole detection for the public sector, to worksite safety and personal protective equipment (PPE) compliance for construction and oil and gas.

Every industry has work that depends on someone in the field seeing and documenting the world around them. AI Vision automates that, turning what your vehicles already see into actionable data without adding manual work for your drivers.

To learn more about how Motive AI Vision can work for your operation, get a tour today.

¹ Based on internal estimates and calculations, potential annual revenue of $2M assumes a 100-truck fleet detecting 4 daily overages per truck, with adjustments for projected enforcement and behavior decay rates. Actual results may vary.