The City of Saskatoon spent more than $26,000 in taxpayer money on a so-called “artificially intelligent” recycling bin that got it wrong nearly two-thirds of the time.

Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show the city’s AI bin — called Oscar Sort — only directed people to the right bin 37.6 percent of the time in July. That’s actually worse than the month before, when it achieved 50 percent accuracy.

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“It’s absurd the city thinks it should spend tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to tell those same taxpayers what bin to put their pop cans in,” said Gage Haubrich, Prairie Director for the CTF. “The City of Saskatoon is trying really hard to win a government waste award this year for this project.”

The city bought the Oscar Sort unit in January for $23,657, then added $1,805 for matching garbage and recycling bins. Another $800 went to buy a tent to protect the computerized contraption during the Saskatoon Jazz Festival.

Taxpayers stuck with $26,000 bill for AI garbage can!

The city of Saskatoon paid more than $26,000 for "Oscar Sort," a large flat-screen monitor placed behind recycling bins that tells people who approach it carrying garbage what bin they are supposed to put it in.

But the…

— Gage Haubrich (@glhaubrich) October 29, 2025

The bin is basically a large screen that uses a camera to “identify” what people are holding and then tells them which bin to use. The system was funded partly through a $150,000 federal Food Waste Prevention and Diversion grant, with $69,000 already paid out.

All this comes as the City of Saskatoon is projecting a 9.9 percent property tax hike in 2026 and another 7.3 percent in 2027.

“When Saskatoon’s budgeting is a dumpster fire, it’s ridiculous the city thinks this is a good use of taxpayer money — this stinks,” said Haubrich. “The city and the feds should be helping Saskatoon residents by making their lives more affordable, not by forcing them to pay for a smart screen garbage can that’s wrong more than half the time.”