“Why did Clear Drop come to life? Because the way we deal with waste is broken, and the future deserves better,” - Ivan Arbouzov, founder and CEO of Clear Drop.
From the Soft Plastic Compactor and Organics Collector to new inventions in development, Clear Drop’s mission is simple: to fill the gap between home waste collection and the recycling industry.
Clear Drop aims to create a practical and truly impactful pre-recycling system, one that ensures materials are properly prepared for final recycling and 100% recycled with our partners.
We created Clear Drop to fill the gap between home waste collection and the recycling industry with an ultimate ZeroTrash goal. We believe that real environmental change starts not with complicated recycling systems, but with smart, seamless solutions.
Pre-recycling concept
That’s why we’re pioneering the future of pre-recycling: a simple, effective way to prepare waste for recycling right where it’s created with the help of our home appliances. From tricky soft plastic packaging to everyday organic waste, we’re transforming how homes handle waste, and helping people move closer to a Zero-Trash lifestyle.
We address the issues of fluffy, always-flying flexible plastics, which are hardly accepted by recycling facilities as-is, by compacting them and making them easy to collect, transport and recycle. Similarly, we tackle the often-pungent smell and messy organic waste that require constant removal by making them easy to collect and neutralizing odors still saving their compost features.
Clear Drop team
Founder and CEO Ivan Arbouzov brings 34 years of experience in the hardware industry. Over his career, he has launched several ventures, including a media company, multiple product development businesses, and most notably, a multinational optics and electronics company that became a global leader and an industry standard in its niche.
Ivan has been an inventor since childhood, always driven to create innovative solutions. With Clear Drop, he envisions a future where recycling begins at home, enabling households to pre-process waste in a way that benefits the entire system. This vision underpins Clear Drop’s mission to revolutionize soft plastic recycling and organic waste management for a cleaner, greener future.
Plastic, especially soft plastic, is almost invisible in how ordinary it is. And yet, it's almost impossible to recycle.We unwrap something and immediately discard what’s left, often into a system that’s not ready to deal with it.
”I wanted to work on something that truly mattered. Something that could help shift how we treat the world around us. That’s why I built one of our products, the Soft Plastic Compactor. Not just as a tool, but as a way to catch the problem at the moment it starts, right when waste is created. I reinvested what I earned from past ventures because I believe it needs to exist. I believe we can do better, not through greenwashing or gimmicks, but with real, practical tools that help people take action at home, right when something becomes waste,“ shares Ivan.
That’s what the Soft Plastic Compactor and Organics Collector are for. It’s not just a machine. It’s a small shift in how we deal with what we throw away, and a step toward a better system.
How the pre-recycling concept started
The active development phase of Clear Drop’s first devices began about five years ago. The company’s product development is based on the experience of multiple specialists: mechanical engineering, electronics, programming, chemical analysis, design, and ergonomics. An initial prototype of the plastic compactor, the flagship product that doesn’t have analogs, was unveiled at CES 2021, where it received highly positive feedback from attendees. Clear Drop’s products are designed to integrate seamlessly into daily life. They are simple, convenient, and habit-forming, preparing waste for being recycled and consuming minimal electricity while complementing industrial recycling systems.
We have initiated collaborations with numerous projects, recycling facilities, industry stakeholders, and local authorities to create a more sustainable waste management ecosystem and to take responsibility for closing the loop with waste collected and compacted with our devices. Clear Drop envisions a future where households actively participate in waste pre-processing at the source.
Backed by industry leaders
To make our recycling systems truly work, we brought in top industry experts.
David Nix, with over 30 years in plastics and recycling, helped us build a collection strategy that aligns with real-world recycling processes. His experience spans global producers, sustainability leadership, and launching Green Group Consulting.
Robert Render, founder of Lakeside 360 Partners and a longtime leader in circular systems, guided our approach to closed-loop programs and measurable impact. His past work includes advising Ravago, leading national recycling committees, and launching over 200 sustainability programs.
Their expertise ensures that Clear Drop isn’t just convenient - it’s built for real-world impact and future scalability.
Our long-term goal is simple: to shift how waste is handled at the point of generation in any form, starting with flexible plastics and organic waste. By working with partners across recycling, policy, and technology, we’re laying the foundation for scalable, lasting solutions to one of the world’s most urgent problems.
