Sustainability Atlas
Circular Economy·9 min read·

Case study: Recycling systems & material recovery — A leading company's implementation and lessons learned

How leading companies like AMP Robotics, Eastman, and Republic Services are transforming material recovery with AI sorting, chemical recycling, and advanced MRF technology.

Case study: Recycling systems & material recovery — A leading company's implementation and lessons learned

The United States recovers only 32% of recyclable materials, leaving an estimated $200 billion worth of resources unrecovered globally each year. Yet pioneering companies are demonstrating that advanced technology can dramatically improve these numbers. AMP Robotics reports material recovery rates exceeding 90% at facilities using their AI-powered sorting systems, while Eastman's molecular recycling plant processes 110,000 metric tons annually of hard-to-recycle plastics. These implementations offer valuable lessons for organizations looking to modernize their material recovery operations.

Why It Matters

The stakes for improving material recovery have never been higher. According to The Recycling Partnership's 2024 State of Recycling Report, only 21% of recyclable material is actually captured nationwide, with 76% of recyclables lost at the household level before reaching processing facilities. This represents both an environmental crisis and an economic opportunity.

The EPA estimates that achieving a national recycling rate of 61%—up from today's 32%—would require $36.5 to $43.4 billion in infrastructure investment but could recover an additional 82 to 89 million tons of material annually. For sustainability leaders, understanding how leading companies have successfully implemented advanced recovery systems provides a roadmap for capturing this value.

Material recovery also directly impacts corporate sustainability commitments. With major brands like Procter & Gamble, L'Oréal, and Estée Lauder requiring recycled content in packaging, companies that master material recovery gain competitive advantage while helping their customers meet regulatory requirements like the EU's mandate for 55% plastic packaging recycling by 2025.

Key Concepts

Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)

Modern MRFs serve as the central processing hubs for single-stream recycling. The approximately 500 MRFs operating in the United States process materials at an average efficiency of 87%, meaning 87% of received materials are successfully converted to commodities. However, this efficiency varies dramatically based on technology deployment and contamination levels.

Advanced MRFs now incorporate multiple sorting technologies: ballistic separators that distinguish flat materials (paper, film) from three-dimensional containers, optical sorters using near-infrared spectroscopy to identify plastic types, magnetic and eddy current separators for metals, and increasingly, AI-powered robotic systems for quality control.

AI-Powered Sorting

Artificial intelligence has transformed material sorting from a labor-intensive, error-prone process to a high-speed, high-accuracy operation. AI systems use computer vision trained on billions of material images to identify and classify items in milliseconds, then direct robotic arms or air jets to sort materials into appropriate streams.

The leading systems can now identify over 100 material categories, sort at rates of 80 to 120 items per minute, and achieve accuracy rates up to 99%. Critically, AI systems learn continuously, improving their recognition capabilities as they process more material and adapting to regional variations in packaging and waste composition.

Chemical and Molecular Recycling

Traditional mechanical recycling—grinding, washing, and reprocessing plastics—works well for clean, single-polymer materials but struggles with mixed or contaminated plastics. Chemical recycling addresses this limitation by breaking polymers down to their molecular building blocks, which can then be repolymerized into virgin-quality materials.

Methanolysis, used by Eastman for polyester recycling, operates at approximately 600°F to break down PET into dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene glycol. These molecules can be repolymerized indefinitely without the quality degradation seen in mechanical recycling, enabling true circularity for materials previously destined for landfill.

What's Working and What Isn't

What's Working

High-speed AI sorting is delivering measurable results. Facilities deploying AI-powered robotics report contamination reduction of up to 90% compared to manual sorting. Evergreen PET Recycling's partnership with AMP Robotics achieved pick rates of 120 bottles per minute—a 200% increase over manual operations—while increasing recycled material volume by 10% at their Virginia facility.

The hub-and-spoke model increases system-wide efficiency. Republic Services' Polymer Center strategy demonstrates how centralized secondary processing can overcome individual facility limitations. By routing plastic bales from 80+ regional MRFs to dedicated polymer centers for advanced sorting and color separation, the company improves PET bale purity beyond what any single MRF could achieve alone.

Chemical recycling is achieving commercial scale. Eastman's Kingsport, Tennessee facility reached 70% sustained operating rates within months of its March 2024 launch, generating $75 to $100 million in EBITDA during its first year. The facility now serves over 100 customers across durable goods, medical devices, and packaging applications.

Robotics-as-a-Service models reduce adoption barriers. AMP Robotics' pay-per-ton contract model allows facilities to access advanced technology as an operating expense rather than capital investment, accelerating deployment across facilities that might otherwise lack modernization budgets.

What Isn't Working

Household capture rates remain the primary bottleneck. Despite improvements in processing technology, 76% of recyclables never reach MRFs. Even perfect facility efficiency cannot compensate for materials that residents dispose of incorrectly or don't participate in recycling programs—only 43% of households actively participate in recycling.

Complex feedstock preparation challenges chemical recycling. Eastman's Kingsport facility experienced mechanical issues during its first months of operation due to the complexity of filtering metals and non-plastic contaminants from incoming feedstock. While resolved, this highlights that chemical recycling requires sophisticated upstream preparation.

Film and flexible packaging remain problematic. Only 1% of U.S. households have curbside access to film recycling. While AMP's Vortex system represents the first AI-powered solution for film recovery, the infrastructure gap means that the estimated 95 pounds of film generated annually per household largely goes unrecycled.

Economic viability depends on oil prices and regulatory support. Recycled content commands premium pricing, and chemical recycling becomes cost-advantaged only when crude oil exceeds approximately $60 per barrel. The termination of the DOE's $375 million grant for Eastman's planned Texas facility in January 2025 illustrates how policy uncertainty can disrupt even well-advanced projects.

Examples

AMP Robotics — AI Sorting at Scale

AMP Robotics has deployed over 400 AI-powered robotic units across North America, with 300+ systems operating globally across 100+ facilities. Their AMP Cortex robots pick at 80 items per minute with 99% accuracy, while the AMP Neuron AI platform has been trained on over 200 billion pieces of data representing 75+ billion items recognized annually.

The company's partnership with Waste Connections exemplifies the "zero-manual-sort" MRF concept. Their Commerce City, Colorado facility, opening in early 2026, will process 62,000 tons annually with minimal human intervention. Key lessons include the importance of continuous AI training—AMP's system improves by processing more diverse materials—and the value of integrated data analytics through their Clarity platform, which provides real-time performance tracking and compliance reporting.

Eastman — Molecular Recycling for Hard-to-Recycle Plastics

Eastman's Kingsport molecular recycling facility represents the largest commercial-scale methanolysis operation, processing 110,000 metric tons annually of plastics that traditional recyclers cannot handle: colored PET, multilayer packaging, and heavily contaminated materials. The resulting Tritan Renew and Cristal Renew resins meet food-contact standards and can be recycled infinitely without quality loss.

The implementation revealed critical lessons about feedstock sourcing. Eastman established supply agreements with Rumpke and other regional recyclers to secure consistent input streams, while expanding capabilities to process a "broader set of hard-to-recycle feedstock" beyond initial PET focus. The mass-balance approach—blending certified recycled content with virgin material—proved essential for meeting customer specifications during ramp-up.

Republic Services — Integrated Polymer Processing Network

Republic Services' strategy combines advanced MRF technology with downstream polymer processing to capture value across the recycling chain. Their Salt River Recycling Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, rebuilt after a 2019 fire, processes 40 tons per hour using Machinex equipment including MACH Hyspec optical sorters and SamurAI robotic quality control.

The company's Las Vegas Polymer Center, opened December 2023, processes over 100 million pounds annually, receiving plastic bales from 80+ regional MRFs for secondary sorting and color separation. A joint venture with Ravago (Blue Polymers) then converts these materials into custom post-consumer resin grades. This three-stage approach—regional MRF collection, centralized polymer sorting, integrated resin production—achieves material purity levels impossible at individual facilities.

Action Checklist

  • Conduct a material flow audit to identify where recyclables are lost in your current system, from household capture through final processing
  • Evaluate AI sorting ROI by comparing current contamination rates and labor costs against projected improvements from robotic systems
  • Assess chemical recycling partnerships for hard-to-recycle materials that currently go to landfill, particularly mixed plastics and contaminated films
  • Implement real-time analytics to track recovery rates, contamination levels, and commodity values across your processing network
  • Explore Robotics-as-a-Service models to reduce capital barriers and gain access to continuous technology upgrades
  • Develop downstream partnerships with polymer processors and brand customers to secure offtake agreements for recovered materials
  • Engage with EPR policy development in your operating regions to help shape regulations that support infrastructure investment

FAQ

Q: What recovery rates can we realistically expect from AI-powered sorting? A: Leading facilities using AI sorting report material recovery rates exceeding 90%, with contamination reduction of up to 90% compared to manual operations. AMP Robotics systems achieve 99% sorting accuracy at pick rates of 80 items per minute, though actual facility-wide recovery depends on incoming material quality and downstream processing capacity.

Q: How does chemical recycling compare economically to mechanical recycling? A: Chemical recycling generally carries higher capital and operating costs but addresses materials that mechanical recycling cannot process. Eastman's Kingsport facility generated $75 to $100 million EBITDA in its first year, demonstrating commercial viability at scale. The technology becomes more cost-competitive when crude oil prices exceed $60 per barrel and when processing materials that would otherwise be landfilled at negative value.

Q: What is the biggest barrier to improving material recovery rates? A: Household capture is the primary bottleneck. The Recycling Partnership found that 76% of recyclables are lost before reaching processing facilities. Even with perfect MRF efficiency, only 43% of households actively participate in recycling programs. Infrastructure improvements must be paired with education campaigns and policy incentives like deposit return systems, which achieve 90%+ recovery rates for beverage containers in participating states.

Sources

Topics

recyclingmaterial recoveryMRFcircular economywaste managementAI sortingchemical recyclingcontamination reductionroboticsplastic recycling

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