CERA has enlisted a portable, solar powered, night vision camera to catch red zone rubbish dumpers, and it's already proving its worth.

The authority has spent more than $100,000 removing various types of rubbish from the red zone since the start of the year.

So residential red zone operations manager Mathew Clark said the $45 a day renting cost for the camera is money well spent.

He said it acts as a "good deterrent" and has noticed a decrease in rubbish dumping where cameras are installed."

Mathew Clark said the camera has already caught a number of rubbish dumpers.

"In all of those they have elected to go back and pick up the rubbish they've dumped themselves and certainly it saves us the cost of doing that, and gives them a good reminder that they can't get away with that."

Avon-Otakaro Network co-chair Evan Smith said dumping remains a significant problem in the red zone and has ecological implications.

"People are dumping old paint tins and things they don't want to dump because it costs too much."

"The chemicals all contribute to the contamination of the land and that's not good environmentally."

Burwood Pegasus Councillor Glenn Livingstone said the camera will help give areas like Dallington, and Bexley more dignity, as there are still residents who live there.