A Colorado-based startup called AMP has built an artificial-intelligence-powered facility in Portsmouth, Virginia that uses cameras, robotics and pneumatic jets to pick recyclable materials out of household garbage, and it is now expanding under a long-term regional contract while a similar pilot takes shape nearly 700 miles away in Kent County, Michigan.
The Southeastern Public Service Authority, which handles trash for eight communities across South Hampton Roads and western Tidewater, finalized a 20-year contract with AMP, according to WHRO. The outlet reported the agreement as a $450 million deal that guarantees AMP will keep at least half of the waste SPSA collects from going to the landfill. As CoStar reported, the Portsmouth facility uses AMP's AI equipment to identify recyclable materials pulled from the regional waste stream.
The Portsmouth plant currently processes about 108,000 tons of municipal solid waste each year, roughly one-quarter of the region's waste stream, the Suffolk News-Herald reports. Inside, AI-powered cameras, robotics and pneumatic jets identify and recover plastics, metals, fiber and organic material before the rest heads to the landfill, according to Waste360.
A Bigger Second Facility Is On the Way, But Timing Is Murky
AMP has closed $70 million in project debt financing led by investment firm Galvanize to help build a new sortation facility in Portsmouth along with an organics processing system, per the same Waste360 report. Once both facilities are running, the regional system is designed to process more than half a million tons of municipal solid waste annually, the outlet notes.
Exactly when that second facility will open remains unsettled. AMP itself has said it expects to bring the expanded facility online in late 2027, while Waste360's more recent account puts the opening in early 2028. SPSA has said it expects all eight member communities to be able to route their trash through the AI-powered process by 2029, according to the Suffolk News-Herald's reporting.
AMP has said the broader SPSA system is designed to eventually handle up to 540,000 tons of waste annually once fully scaled, a figure that would roughly match Waste360's regional estimate. The stated goal behind the buildout, according to WVTF, is to extend the regional landfill's life through the end of the century while also boosting recycling rates.
Suffolk Residents Already Feel the Change
The shift is already altering daily routines in at least one SPSA community. As of July 1, Suffolk residents no longer have to separate recyclables from household trash before putting it out, the news outlet's report states, since AMP's sorting system is designed to pull recyclables out after the fact. WHRO has reported that the broader project could eventually lead local governments to reconsider separate curbside recycling bins altogether, potentially eliminating the blue bins many residents have used for years.
Michigan's Kent County Runs a Parallel Experiment
Roughly 700 miles northwest, Kent County's Department of Public Works is piloting its own version of the technology, an AMP ONE municipal solid waste processing system meant to recover valuable recyclable material before it reaches landfills or gets burned at the county's Waste-to-Energy facility, according to WGVU. That system relies on AI computer vision and pneumatic sorting to extract cardboard and select plastics from the mixed waste stream.
Kent County's Public Works director told the station that the county's existing plant currently processes about 200,000 tons of material that gets combusted, with hopes of eventually handling up to 400,000 tons. The director also said AMP is providing much of the equipment and operation at no cost, allowing the county to learn how to run the facilities before committing further.
Together, the two projects mark an early test of whether AI-driven sorting can reshape how entire regions handle garbage, cutting down on landfill use without requiring residents to do all the separating themselves. Hampton Roads offers the more advanced example so far, with a signed long-term contract and a facility already running, while Kent County's pilot suggests the approach is drawing interest well beyond Virginia.
