Listen to this article

A bale of plastic before sorting at an Evergreen facility. | Source: AMP Robotics

AMP Robotics and Evergreen has expanded their partnership, with Evergreen deploying, or ready to deploy, 15 of AMP’s robotic sorting systems. Evergreen currently has six robots deployed in its Clyde, Ohio facility, six in its Riverside, California facility, and will add three to its Albany, New York facility. 

AMP’s robotic sorters use AI to identify and sort different kinds of plastic and other materials, like cardboard, paper, cans and cartons. Evergreen is a producer of food-grade recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). 

Evergreen uses AMP’s robotic sorters to identify green and clear rPET in post-consumer bales of plastic soft drink bottles. AMP’s sorters are up to three times faster and more accurate than manual sorters. 

AMP’s robots are able to pick up to 120 bottles per minute at Evergreen’s facilities. They’re also able to remove up to 90% of contamination. After sorting, Evergreen recycles the material into reusable flakes or pellets.

“As a leader in the transition to recycled PET from virgin resin, the precision and accuracy of AI-enabled robotics has allowed us to better monitor material composition throughout our operation, increase capture, and ensure high quality in the rPET resin we produce,” Greg Johnson, Evergreen general manager, said. “We want to recover all we can, and with AMP’s technology, we are—thereby helping to supply a higher-quality end product and a larger volume of recycled plastic for brands to source for their recycled content goals and sustainability commitments.”  

Since implementing AMP’s sorters, Evergreen’s annual capacity of rPET has grown from 40 million pounds to 147 million pounds in just one year. Evergreen collects and recycles a total of 11.6 billion post-consumer PET bottles and recycles, up from two billion. 

“Evergreen is a leader in the transformation of recycling processes, and its application of AI-guided sortation is increasing plastic recycling rates and helping to close the loop on PET,” Matanya Horowitz, founder and CEO of AMP Robotics, said. “Evergreen’s repeat orders of our systems is a testament to the operational benefits of our AI and automation solutions, and we’re proud to play a role in the company’s expansion and modernization efforts.”

Almost 200 of AMP’s robots are being deployed in more than 80 facilities across three continents. Last year, it raised $55 million in Series B financing.