AI waste sorting: AMP ONE vs TOMRA GAINnext vs Recycleye

Match AI sorting to the scale of the purchase

Waste operators buy very different systems under the label AI sorting. AMP ONE is a facility-scale offer, TOMRA GAINnext is a visual sorting technology with multiple machine configurations, and Recycleye QualiBot is a robot for dry mixed recyclables quality control. The useful comparison is what each recognizes, how it separates material, and which part of the plant it changes.

AMP ONE

AMP ONE approaches recovery as a complete automated sorting facility. Its Smart Sortation system combines material recognition with configurable physical separation and can process inputs including single-stream recycling, municipal solid waste, MRF residue, and mixed plastics. AMP Vision uses RGB cameras and AI to identify material type, form, color, polymer, and even brand. That information supports configuration changes as the incoming stream or desired output changes. The connected Insight analytics show material composition and operational trends, while SmartTons links finished bales to composition and purity information. AMP describes a sortation-as-a-service model in which it operates and maintains the plant, with sourcing, offtake, and disposal remaining customer responsibilities. This makes AMP ONE relevant to an operator considering a broad facility investment or operating arrangement. It is a different commitment from placing one sorting robot on an existing belt. Feedstock suitability, throughput, site requirements, and performance terms belong to the specific proposed facility.

TOMRA GAINnext

TOMRA GAINnext adds deep-learning visual intelligence where a sorting system needs finer object distinctions than conventional sensor information alone provides. The current application ecosystem includes food-contact PET, PP, and HDPE packaging, PET contaminants, silicone cartridges in PE, aluminum beverage cans, selected metal separations, paper cleaning, and wood classification. Its multi-sensor approach connects visual recognition with physical sorting, including recognizing overlapping objects and positioning the separation action. Current configurations include AUTOSORT and FINDER systems; TOMRA also describes existing-setup integration and standalone deployment, with the configuration selected for the sorting task. Optional TOMRA Insight and waste-analyzer services add monitoring scope. GAINnext suits a recycler whose commercial value depends on a particular purity distinction, such as separating food-contact packaging from other containers or removing hard-to-classify contaminants. It should be evaluated for the target application and machine configuration, rather than treated as one universal robot or a fixed whole-plant service.

Recycleye QualiBot

Recycleye QualiBot combines Recycleye Vision with a FANUC industrial arm and suction gripper to remove or recover selected items from dry mixed recyclables. Its current proposition is deliberately focused on DMR quality control and residue-line picking. The vision model identifies target materials, and the robot decides what to pick as they move along the belt. Logged detections and pick attempts support composition trends, recovery views, and robot-utilization analysis. QualiBot can work as a dedicated robotic position or alongside people who handle the remainder of the line. Recycleye emphasizes retrofitting existing plants, including QC cabins, with a tailored service plan supporting the installation. The product suits an MRF seeking to automate a defined picking job while retaining the surrounding process. Its website’s animated performance dashboard uses demonstration data, and advertised picking rates are not a measured result for a prospective buyer’s stream. DMR scope should not be extended to every mixed-waste application.

Facility redesign versus targeted automation

AMP ONE has the widest operating footprint: it addresses how a facility transforms infeed into finished material. TOMRA GAINnext targets a configured sorting stage or system, adding visual discrimination to a specific separation job. QualiBot targets the picking position on a DMR line. For a new facility or a major change in processing strategy, AMP’s plant-level offer is relevant. For an existing optical-sorting operation that needs a cleaner material fraction, GAINnext is more directly aligned. For an MRF with a repetitive QC task, QualiBot offers a narrower physical intervention. These are three different investment scopes, rather than equivalent machines with different logos.

Recognition and the mechanism of separation

AMP couples visual material characterization with configurable Jet sorting and broader facility design. GAINnext focuses on visually difficult categories within multi-sensor sorting systems. QualiBot uses vision to guide individual suction picks with a robotic arm. Those mechanisms matter: an air-ejection stage and a robot position have different physical constraints and should not be ranked by placing their advertised per-minute figures in one speed contest. AMP’s recognition and bale information support stream-level decisions; GAINnext’s application ecosystem supports fine material distinctions; QualiBot’s logs connect detection to the robot’s actual picking activity. The target commodity and required output fraction provide the common basis for comparison.

Service models change the meaning of price

AMP advertises pay-per-ton sortation as a service, but the numeric rate, throughput commitment, and invoicing interval remain unconfirmed. TOMRA and Recycleye require project discussions; current hardware, application, installation, and service amounts remain unconfirmed. AMP’s operating responsibilities therefore cannot be compared with only the purchase cost of a QualiBot robot or a GAINnext configuration. Optional analytics and support also affect scope. The table records these uncertainties instead of assigning a fictional monthly subscription to industrial hardware.

Which should you choose?

Consider AMP ONE for facility-scale automated recovery, TOMRA GAINnext for application-specific sorting and purity improvements, and Recycleye QualiBot for robotic QC on an existing DMR line. Match the product to the plant change you actually intend to make.