A computer-implemented method for analyzing refuse, the method comprising: receiving (302, 304) sensor data indicating an operational state of a vehicle body component of a refuse collection vehicle, the sensor data generated by a sensor device configured to detect the operational state of the vehicle body component; and analyzing the sensor data to detect a presence of a triggering condition based at least partly on a particular operational state of the vehicle body component, as indicated by the sensor data; characterized in that the method includes, in response to detecting the triggering condition, i) generating a vibration to spread refuse collected by the refuse collection vehicle across a refuse collection surface, ii) generating digitized images of the refuse positioned on the refuse collection surface by a camera mounted on the refuse collection vehicle, wherein the camera is configured to generate digitized images of the refuse positioned on the refuse collection surface, and iii) accessing image data indicating a physical state of the refuse collected by the refuse collection vehicle, the image data being generated by the camera; providing the image data as input to at least one contaminant detection model trained, using at least one machine learning algorithm, to output a classification of the image data, wherein the classification indicates a degree of contamination of the refuse; and storing, in a machine-readable medium, the classification of the image data. receiving (302, 304) sensor data indicating an operational state of a vehicle body component of a refuse collection vehicle, the sensor data generated by a sensor device configured to detect the operational state of the vehicle body component; and analyzing the sensor data to detect a presence of a triggering condition based at least partly on a particular operational state of the vehicle body component, as indicated by the sensor data; characterized in that the method includes, in response to detecting the triggering condition, i) generating a vibration to spread refuse collected by the refuse collection vehicle across a refuse collection surface, ii) generating digitized images of the refuse positioned on the refuse collection surface by a camera mounted on the refuse collection vehicle, wherein the camera is configured to generate digitized images of the refuse positioned on the refuse collection surface, and iii) accessing image data indicating a physical state of the refuse collected by the refuse collection vehicle, the image data being generated by the camera; i) generating a vibration to spread refuse collected by the refuse collection vehicle across a refuse collection surface, ii) generating digitized images of the refuse positioned on the refuse collection surface by a camera mounted on the refuse collection vehicle, wherein the camera is configured to generate digitized images of the refuse positioned on the refuse collection surface, and iii) accessing image data indicating a physical state of the refuse collected by the refuse collection vehicle, the image data being generated by the camera; providing the image data as input to at least one contaminant detection model trained, using at least one machine learning algorithm, to output a classification of the image data, wherein the classification indicates a degree of contamination of the refuse; and storing, in a machine-readable medium, the classification of the image data.