AMP

AMP ( formerly AMP Robotics) uses robots and AI to sort waste by type. Following the company’s rebranding, it shifted focus from supplying sorting robots to building automated, facility-scale recycling solutions that incorporate AI and robotics. The company’s AMP One-integrated sorting facility combines a number of AMP’s modular solutions to deliver a material recovery facility (MRF) that requires no manual sorting. The facilities are able to autonomously sort multiple waste streams, including municipal solid waste, MRF residue, and mixed plastic waste into bales of materials.

The modular solutions that make up AMP One include

AMP Vision: An AI-powered machine vision system capable of identifying over 50 categories of materials present in waste streams. The company claims it uses the world’s largest real-world dataset for materials with over 75 billion data points. 

AMP Jet and Microjet: An AI-based sorting system that leverages AMP Vision to identify materials and separates these two material streams simultaneously using two rows of 50 air nozzles. The system also uses AI to track the path of sorted materials and adjust jets. AMP Jet is claimed to be able to recover over 90% of target materials without human intervention. The Microjet is a compact version that can be mounted on the side of a conveyor belt.

AMP Delta: A robotic sortation system that uses AMP Vision to mechanically sort waste streams, reaching pick rates of over 80 items per mimute. Also available in Tandem (120 items per minute) and Compact (65 items per minute) variants.

AMP Vac: A belt-mounted vacuum array that removes and collects thin film that can be used for pyrolysis applications. It is able to collect up to 120 picks per minute.

AMP Insight and AMP SmartTons : A real-time reporting tool and system for tagging sorted bales, which can specify the exact composition and purity of the recovered material.

The company reports that its plants are able to handle between 15 and 100+ kilotons of waste annually. AMP also has turnkey plants available, and claims it can deploy custom-built plants in as little as nine months. As of February 2024, the company has more than 230 deployments in more than 80 facilities and robotic systems in over 20 states in the US, and in Canada, Japan, and Europe.

In May 2023, the company unveiled a complete line of AI-powered automation solutions for materials recovery facilities (MRFs), including a new compact robotic sortation solution, AI-driven improvements in targeting and robotic gripping reliability, and integrated AI-powered facility solution.

In November 2022, the company opened its new 84,000 sq ft facility in Louisville.

Key customers and partnerships

In September 2021, AMP installed its first AI-guided robotics systems in the UK and Ireland with Recyco, a recycling and waste management business in Northern Ireland. In July 2023, the Kent County Department of Public Works (DPW) acquired three recycling robots from AMP Robotics. In March 2022, AMP extended its partnership with Evergreen, adding six robots in Riverside, California, and planned to add three more in Albany, New York, in addition to the existing six robots in Clyde. In June 2022, AMP expanded its partnership with its reportedly largest customer waste connections.

Funding and financials

In November 2022, the company raised USD 91 million in corporate equity in a Series C funding round led by Congruent Ventures and Wellington Management. In May 2023, the company also raised an undisclosed amount from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, bringing AMP’s Series C round to a total of more than USD 99 million. The company intended to use the funds to retrofit existing recycling infrastructure with technology solutions, as well as develop new infrastructure using AI-powered automation.