The illegal dumping of waste is a major problem in Mallorca. The island's town halls regularly post images of dumps, be these small or large. They try everything, even hiring private detectives, in efforts to put an end to the fly-tipping, but it continues.
There may now be a solution. The Balearic ministry of business, self-employment and energy has signed an agreement with a company called Elohawk for the use of an artificial intelligence tool in the detection and control of illegal dumps.
This tool uses aerial photos, the company's founder and CEO, Eduardo López, explaining that "for the first time, we have a real-world image of the illegal landfills on the islands". "We can know where they are by identifying the cadastral parcel - the surface area, and even the volume they occupy. We cannot yet distinguish the type of waste, but this is not ruled out in the future."
Several AI systems have been used in developing the tool. One of them has been trained on 350,000 images. López says illegal dumps can typically only be detected if reported by someone or by random inspector patrols. "The capacity for control has been very limited. We have been like blind people with a cane. Now we have a hawk that sees everything. With the new tool, we can increase the efficiency of the service tenfold. The inspector can target specific locations, and we can even establish priorities for action and intervention, depending on the severity or size of the dumping.
"Coordination with environment agents, local police and the Guardia Civil's Seprona division is greatly improved, optimising resources. We have already detected practically all the illegal dumps in Mallorca and the Balearics, which number in the thousands." He adds that the quality of the photographs is quite good and that they are renewed every one or two years. "The latest ones are from 2024, and it's expected that they will be updated this year." The images come from the National Aerial Orthophotography Plan.
López is looking to expand beyond the Balearics. "Together with the Foundation for the Circular Economy, we will try to extend the tool to the rest of Spain and Europe. There is no other company in the world that offers this service. Anyone with an illegal dump should start thinking about removing the waste. It will be much better than being fined."