AMP, a Colorado company, has raised $91 million to expand its AI-powered recycling operations that use robots to sort waste faster and better than humans can, reported PYMNTS.
The technology brings hope to an industry facing higher costs and tighter standards for contamination. These advanced machines could transform recycling centers, making trash valuable again.
"Recycling rates have stagnated in the United States," said AMP founder Matanya Horowitz. "Our AI systems help recover more materials, reduce contamination, and ultimately optimize waste operations."
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Giving me money back 💰 The robots learn continuously through deep learning, scanning millions of waste images to spot patterns in colors, textures, shapes, and logos. They can pick out a plastic bottle from mixed trash in a fraction of the time it takes a person.
These machines work 24/7, solving a big challenge: worker shortages in an industry known for difficult manual labor. With AMP running 400 AI systems worldwide, the technology's impact keeps growing.
"I believe bins themselves can be made intelligent to reduce human errors, then [the] recycling system can start sorting materials with the help of AI," Abhishek Agrawal, an Amazon AI software engineer, told PYMNTS.
The movement is spreading. Greyparrot has placed its AI tech in over 50 recycling facilities in Europe. Their systems watch conveyor belts in real-time, identifying plastics, paper, and metals. This helps reduce contamination and pushes companies to make packaging easier to recycle.
Another company, Recycleye, uses AI-powered robot arms to sort materials like aluminum and plastic. A U.K. recycling company, Recorra, has started using this tech to update its operations.
But there's a catch, according to MIT News: AI systems need lots of power. An MIT study found that data centers running AI will use as much electricity as France by 2026. The hardware needs water for cooling, which can strain local water supplies. Making special computer chips for AI also takes resources and creates waste. A simplified AI algorithm is one potential solution to this energy drain, while cooling alternatives could help address water-related challenges.
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