The Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia (SPSA), serving over 1.2 million residents across eight communities, has entered a 20-year agreement with Commonwealth Sortation LLC, an affiliate of AMP Robotics Corporation, to transform its waste management system. This partnership marks the largest recycling initiative in the United States and aims to significantly extend the life of local landfills while boosting recycling and waste diversion rates. The project builds on a successful two-year pilot in Portsmouth that used AMP’s AI-powered ONE™ system to process up to 150 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) daily. Now, the technology will be scaled across the entire region, with AMP deploying additional sortation lines and an organics management system capable of handling 540,000 tons of waste annually—enough to divert half of SPSA’s waste from landfills. AMP’s system uses advanced AI, computer vision, robotics, and pneumatic jets to identify and extract recyclables like plastics, metals, and paper, as well as organic materials, from bagged trash. This allows all residential and commercial waste to be collected in a single bin, eliminating the need for separate recycling trucks and facilities. SPSA’s own waste analysis revealed that a significant amount of recyclable material—especially plastics and metals—was being sent to landfills, even in areas with curbside recycling programs. Under the new model, SPSA will achieve a 20% recycling rate, more than double the rate of the region’s highest-performing community. The project will also create a new revenue stream by turning recovered materials into marketable end products. Additionally, a third facility on Victory Boulevard will convert captured organics into biochar through indirect heating—a carbon-sequestering process that locks away more than 0.7 tons of CO2 equivalent per ton of waste diverted. This equates to over 378,000 tons of CO2 avoided annually—equivalent to removing more than 88,000 cars from the road. The distributed network of processing sites enhances operational resilience, minimizing downtime risks and ensuring consistent performance. Unlike traditional recycling centers reliant on manual labor, AMP’s model emphasizes skilled roles for production operators who manage and optimize automated systems, creating opportunities for workforce development. Tim Stuart, CEO of AMP, emphasized that this project represents a new paradigm for recycling—one that aligns with existing infrastructure and delivers measurable environmental and economic benefits. The company, backed by major investors including Sequoia Capital, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, and CalSTRS, expects to create around 100 new jobs in the region and build a pipeline of transferable technical skills. With more than 400 AI systems deployed across North America, Asia, and Europe, and over 2.8 million tons of recyclables processed, AMP is redefining the economics of waste management. SPSA’s move sets a national benchmark for sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective waste solutions, offering a replicable model for other communities seeking to modernize their recycling infrastructure and combat climate change.