Landmark multiyear agreement, one of Google’s largest to date, accelerates path to decarbonize waste and target methane
DENVER, March 17, 2026–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Google has signed an agreement with Commonwealth Sortation LLC, an affiliate of AMP Robotics Corporation (together, “AMP”), to remove 200,000 metric tonnes of CO2e by 2030, while also accelerating new pathways for the waste industry to tackle methane, a potent superpollutant.
Turning Trash into Carbon Storage
AMP uses AI-powered sortation technology to recover recyclable commodities and organic material from municipal solid waste (“MSW”). Instead of allowing organic waste to decompose in landfills and release methane, AMP converts it into biochar, a stable material that sequesters carbon and keeps it out of the atmosphere for hundreds of years.
Landfilled municipal solid waste is the third-largest source of human-generated methane emissions in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By diverting organic material from landfills and transforming it into biochar before it produces methane, AMP’s process both reduces near-term warming and locks carbon away for the long term.
This purchase will enable AMP to add biochar production capacity to the largest recycling project in the United States, ultimately unlocking the potential to convert five million tons of organic waste into biochar over the next 20 years.
AMP and Google will also work together to establish frameworks for quantifying the impact that waste diversion paired with biochar carbon removal could have on methane elimination, and help lay the groundwork for scaling these solutions across the municipal waste industry.
“We’re excited to catalyze an approach to waste management that takes on the twin challenges of climate change: the near-term warming of methane and the long-term warming of carbon dioxide. AMP’s technology, through its partnerships with local waste management authorities, offers a scalable way to turn waste organic materials into a real climate solution, all while supporting local communities by reducing waste and mitigating air pollution,” said Randy Spock, Carbon Credits and Removal Lead at Google.
A First-of-Its-Kind Model in Virginia
In late 2025, AMP affiliate Commonwealth Sortation LLC signed a 20-year contract with the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia (“SPSA”), the regional waste authority that serves eight communities and 1.2 million residents in South Hampton Roads.
Through this project, AMP’s AI sortation technology will ultimately process 540,000 tons of MSW annually, diverting or repurposing at least 50% of this material from landfill. In addition to preventing waste buildup at SPSA’s landfill, each ton diverted reduces or sequesters more than 0.7 tons of CO₂e—amounting to more than 378,000 tons of carbon dioxide avoided or removed annually, equivalent to taking more than 88,000 cars off the road each year.
