DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 23, 2025--
AMP Robotics Corporation (“AMP”), a leading provider of high-technology sorting solutions for the waste and recycling industry, has acquired the Portsmouth operations of RDS of Virginia, LLC (“RDS Portsmouth”). RDS Portsmouth has been providing recycling services in South Hampton Roads since 2005.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250923060260/en/
Since late 2023, AMP has operated an AI-powered AMP ONE™ system to cost-effectively process locally sourced municipal solid waste (MSW) in Portsmouth. The system is capable of handling up to 150 tons of MSW per day, separating recyclables and organic material from bagged trash with over 90 percent uptime—an unprecedented level of reliability for large-scale, economically viable mixed-waste sorting. Equipped with this technology, the facility is capable of diverting more than 50 percent of landfill-bound material when paired with organics management and mixed recyclables sorting systems. In addition to the MSW processing facility, RDS Portsmouth’s operations also include a single-stream facility, which AMP will look to grow in the near future.
“We’re focused on enabling a new model for the processing of municipal solid waste, and we see the success of our operations in Portsmouth as a blueprint for municipalities across the country looking to extend the life of their landfills and reach ambitious diversion targets,” said Tim Stuart, CEO of AMP. “As we grow, we’ll continue to evaluate potential acquisitions that would enable the processing of more tonnage by our systems and further demonstrate the impact of our technology on waste economics.”
Joe Benedetto, former president of RDS Portsmouth, added, “I’m proud of the company my team and I built over the last two decades, and I’m excited to see how AMP builds on that foundation. Extracting recyclables and organic material from MSW is capturing more of the value in our waste, which is critical with communities shuttering recycling programs due to increasing costs. The way AMP is processing MSW here in Portsmouth shows what’s possible with cutting-edge technology.”
About AMP™
AMP is applying AI-powered sortation at scale to modernize the world's recycling infrastructure and maximize the value in waste. AMP designs, builds, and operates advanced, cost-competitive facilities to process single-stream recycling and municipal solid waste. The company’s AI platform has identified more than 200 billion items, and its systems have processed 2.7 million tons of recyclables. With three full-scale facilities and more than 400 AI systems deployed across North America, Asia, and Europe, AMP’s technology offers a transformational solution to waste sortation and changes the fundamental economics of recycling.
AMP operates an AI-powered AMP ONE™ system to cost-effectively process locally sourced municipal solid waste (MSW) in Portsmouth, Virginia. The system is capable of handling up to 150 tons of MSW per day and diverting more than 50 percent of landfill-bound material.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
