AMP ONE autonomously transforms single stream, municipal solid waste, mixed plastics, and other infeeds into valuable bales. | Source: AMP Robotics
AMP, a developer of robotic sorting technology for waste and recycling, this week acquired the Portsmouth operations of RDS of Virginia LLC. RDS Portsmouth has been providing recycling services in South Hampton Roads since 2005.
“We’re focused on enabling a new model for the processing of municipal solid waste, and we see the success of our operations in Portsmouth as a blueprint for municipalities across the country looking to extend the life of their landfills and reach ambitious diversion targets,” said Tim Stuart, CEO of AMP. “As we grow, we’ll continue to evaluate potential acquisitions that would enable the processing of more tonnage by our systems and further demonstrate the impact of our technology on waste economics.”
Since late 2023, AMP has operated an AI-powered AMP ONE system to process locally sourced municipal solid waste (MSW) in Portsmouth. The system is capable of handling up to 150 tons of MSW per day, separating recyclables and organic material from bagged trash with over 90% uptime.
Equipped with this technology, the facility is capable of diverting more than 50% of landfill-bound material when paired with organics management and mixed recyclables sorting systems, the company claimed. In addition to the MSW processing facility, RDS Portsmouth’s operations also include a single-stream facility, which AMP said it hopes to grow in the near future.
AMP and RDS share values
Founded in 2014, AMP said its AI platform has identified more than 200 billion items and guided the sortation of more than 2.7 million tons of recyclables. The company raised $91 million in funding at the end of 2024.
“I’m proud of the company my team and I built over the last two decades, and I’m excited to see how AMP builds on that foundation,” said Joe Benedetto, former president of RDS Portsmouth. “Extracting recyclables and organic material from MSW is capturing more of the value in our waste, which is critical with communities shuttering recycling programs due to increasing costs. The way AMP is processing MSW here in Portsmouth shows what’s possible with cutting-edge technology.”
This latest acquisition is the most recent step AMP is taking to moving beyond being a technology developer and becoming an operating company. Stuart spoke about this with The Robot Report earlier this year.
“We are turning into more of an operating company,” he said at the time. “So, we’re going to take this technology and partner with other companies or municipalities to operate their facilities.”
How robotics could make recycling more effective
AMP’s latest moves are steps toward its goal of processing more recycling materials and reducing the number of items that end up in landfills every year. It isn’t the only robotics company with the goal, however.
San Francisco-based Glacier is another prominent developer in the space. The company raised $16 million earlier this year and deployed a fleet of its robots with Recology’s King County Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Seattle.
In addition, EverestLabs, a Fremont, Calif.-based developer, offers the RecycleOS sorting robot.
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