Auckland Council says using AI to help sort through bins will make the region's rubbish management more cost-effective.

Almost a third of Auckland's recycling now ends up in landfill, and the council said it was costing ratepayers about $3.5 million a year.

Auckland Council general waste manager Justine Hayes said that people putting the wrong items in the recycling bin was a big problem.

"We are getting rubbish in the recycling bins, which essentially means that the sorting process takes longer, and we have to pay to dispose of that rubbish in a landfill rather than recycling it.

"We're seeing people bagging recyclable items that unfortunately end up going into the rubbish, and nappies and soft plastics are unfortunately a common find in recycling bins."

Hayes said the council conducting inspections and giving warning notices before confiscating bins, had been effective, but the new AI technology they had started using would speed up this process.

"AI is being trialled to see whether we can monitor the recycling that's coming into the truck. Through the use of AI, we can pick up the contamination as it enters the truck instead of having to inspect every bin manually."

She said the AI technology would help them focus on areas where rubbish contamination was highest.

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