ZeroTrash® Revolution Blog Blog
Explore articles on recycling, waste management and sustainable habits by category
Official rules: Clear Drop OC pre-order giveaway
The drawing was heldWINNER SELECTION VIDEO1. SPONSOR The Clear Drop Pre-Order Giveaway (the “Giveaway”) is sponsored by Clear Drop Inc., a company registered under number 929 333 67 23, with...
Official rules: Clear Drop OC pre-order giveaway
The drawing was heldWINNER SELECTION VIDEO1. SPONSOR The Clear Drop Pre-Order Giveaway (the “Giveaway”) is sponsored by Clear Drop Inc., a company registered under number 929 333 67 23, with a registered office at 6401 Eldorado Pkwy, Suite 409, McKinney, TX 75070-6520, United States (the “Sponsor”). 2. ELIGIBILITY The Giveaway is open to legal residents of the United States, aged 18 or older at the time of entry. Employees, officers, and directors of the Sponsor and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate. 3. GIVEAWAY PERIOD The Giveaway begins on July 5, 2025, at 12:00 AM (CST) and ends on September 15, 2025, at 11:59 PM (CST) (the “Entry Period”). 4. HOW TO ENTER To enter, participants must submit their email address via the pop up form on the Clear Drop webpage: https://onecleardrop.com/ during the Entry Period. Limit one (1) entry per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. No purchase is necessary to enter. 5. PRIZE One (1) winner will receive an Organic Collector (OC) device (the “Prize”). The approximate retail value (ARV) of the Prize is $499. The Prize is non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or any other alternative. The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the Prize with another of equal or greater value if necessary. 6. WINNER SELECTION & NOTIFICATION The winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries using the Wheel of Names randomizer tool. The drawing will take place on or before September 20, 2025. The winner will be contacted via the email provided during entry. The winner must respond within 72 hours of the email notification. If the winner does not respond within this timeframe, the Sponsor reserves the right to select an alternate winner via a new random draw. A video of the drawing will be posted on https://onecleardrop.com/ for transparency. 7. DATA PRIVACY & CONSENT By entering the Giveaway, participants agree that their email addresses will be used for the purpose of administering the Giveaway and contacting the winner, and for other company updates. The Sponsor will not sell, or share the collected email addresses without prior consent. 8. GENERAL CONDITIONS By participating, entrants agree to comply with these Official Rules. The Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any participant suspected of fraudulent activity. The Giveaway is void where prohibited by law. The Sponsor is not responsible for lost, delayed, or misdirected entries due to technical errors. 9. LIABILITY RELEASE By participating, entrants release and hold harmless the Sponsor, its affiliates, and employees from any claims related to participation in the Giveaway or acceptance/use of the Prize. 10. CONTACT For any questions regarding this Giveaway, please contact: support@onecleardrop.com
Fixing the broken recycling system: why Clear D...
The global recycling system is struggling to keep up with the waste we generate. Most soft plastics are not accepted curbside, and Soft Plastic Compactor solutions are needed to handle...
Fixing the broken recycling system: why Clear Drop® exists
The global recycling system is struggling to keep up with the waste we generate. Most soft plastics are not accepted curbside, and Soft Plastic Compactor solutions are needed to handle what traditional systems cannot. Organic waste in landfills releases harmful greenhouse gases. Clear Drop® exists to solve this gap – preparing household waste for real recycling before it leaves the home. This approach, called pre-recycling, enables every household to make measurable impact toward a ZeroTrash future. 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 Pre-recycling bridges the gap between how waste is generated and how recycling actually works. Instead of relying on facilities to separate and rescue recyclable materials, Clear Drop® enables households to pre-process waste at the source. Soft plastics are compacted into density-enhanced blocks for efficient transportation and real downstream recycling. Organic waste is collected and stabilized without odors while retaining its compost properties through the Organics Collector. Together, these devices turn two of the most problematic waste streams into materials that recycling infrastructure can finally work with. Pre-recycling is not a replacement for recycling – it is what makes recycling possible. How Clear Drop® Solves What Recycling Can’t Soft plastics are prepared for real recycling instead of going to landfill. Organics are stored without smell or mess and stay compost-ready. Households produce less trash and need fewer collection pickups. Trucking emissions are reduced because volume is minimized at home. More material stays in the circular economy and out of nature. 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 Clear Drop® began developing pre-recycling technology five years ago, combining engineering, chemistry, and industrial design expertise into a new category of home appliances. The first Soft Plastic Compactor prototype debuted at CES 2021, gaining strong validation from industry leaders. Today, Clear Drop® continues to collaborate with recycling facilities, municipalities, and sustainability organizations to build a closed-loop ecosystem – one that guarantees recycling when materials are properly pre-processed. 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 Global recycling experts advise Clear Drop® to ensure our solutions align with real-world processing requirements. David Nix – former sustainability lead for global plastics producers, now guiding scalable soft-plastic recovery partnerships. Robert Render – pioneer of closed-loop industrial recycling programs with more than 200 successful initiatives. Their leadership ensures that Clear Drop® products are not “nice to have” gadgets – but critical infrastructure solutions for the future of circular waste systems. Call to Action: Explore Clear Drop® Devices Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) – https://onecleardrop.com/products/soft-plastic-compactor-spc Organics Collector (OC) – https://onecleardrop.com/products/organics-collector 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.
Getting started with soft plastic waste collect...
Flexible packaging makes everyday life easier, but most soft plastics still end up in landfills because they are not accepted in curbside recycling. With the rise of new recycling technologies,...
Getting started with soft plastic waste collection at home
Flexible packaging makes everyday life easier, but most soft plastics still end up in landfills because they are not accepted in curbside recycling. With the rise of new recycling technologies, the first and most important step begins at home. Clear Drop’s Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) allows households to store and prepare soft plastics for actual recycling — without mess, smell, or excess storage needs. The complexities of soft plastic recycling Soft plastics are among the most difficult household materials to recycle. Their lightweight and flexible structure leads to technical challenges during sorting and processing, which is why less than 5% of soft plastics in the U.S. are successfully recycled. When sent to landfill, they contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, soil and water pollution, and long-term environmental harm. Transporting loose soft plastics to recycling points is also highly inefficient: more volume means more fuel and higher emissions. New circular solutions help bridge this gap — but they rely on proper preparation at home. Why is circularity important? The circular economy keeps materials in use longer — reducing demand for new resources, lowering emissions, and strengthening supply chain resilience. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, improving circularity in key industries could cut global CO₂ emissions by 9.3 billion tons by 2050. Circularity also supports economic and social progress by creating new jobs and reducing the environmental burden on vulnerable communities located near landfills and waste-processing facilities. How to start recycling soft plastics at home with the SPC? Here’s a simple step-by-step approach to make soft plastic recycling easy and consistent using the SPC: Identify soft plastics in your home Most soft plastics can be identified by crumpling them — if they ball up easily, the SPC will accept them. Suitable materials include HDPE (#2), LDPE (#4), and PP (#5), such as: Food wrappers Plastic shopping bags Bubble wrap and shipping film Cling and stretch wrap Zip-lock and freezer bags Avoid PVC (#3) and PS (#6), as well as organics, glass, metal, and paper — these should go into other existing recycling or waste systems. Clean and dry all plastic before storage Before placing soft plastics into the SPC, ensure they are clean and dry to maintain efficiency and support high-quality recycling. Store soft plastics efficiently The SPC compacts soft plastics into dense, shape-preserving blocks measuring 12×8×4 inches — up to 10× less volume than loose bags. Simply feed the plastic through the automated collector window daily. Most households produce approximately one block per month depending on usage. Recycle with Clear Drop The SPC is part of a full circular solution. Compacted blocks are easier to collect, transport, and recycle — and enter Clear Drop’s partner network for true downstream recycling. These blocks can be transformed into new durable products such as pallets, benches, landscaping materials, and decking. Create a recycling habit Make soft plastic recycling part of your family’s daily routine. Place the SPC where it’s easy to access, explain the process to household members, and normalize sustainability through consistent small actions. Ready to start your circular recycling journey at home? Explore the Soft Plastic Compactor Learn how Clear Drop supports recycling beyond your home
How Eduardo's Bridal & Tuxedo reduced soft plas...
Garment retail businesses rely heavily on flexible plastic packaging to protect inventory. But once gowns and tuxedos are unwrapped, that plastic becomes costly, bulky waste. Eduardo’s Bridal & Tuxedo, a...
How Eduardo's Bridal & Tuxedo reduced soft plastic waste volume by 90% with the SPC
Garment retail businesses rely heavily on flexible plastic packaging to protect inventory. But once gowns and tuxedos are unwrapped, that plastic becomes costly, bulky waste. Eduardo’s Bridal & Tuxedo, a family-owned formalwear retailer in San Antonio, partnered with Clear Drop to turn a previously ignored waste stream into a meaningful sustainability win. With the Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC), they now reduce soft plastic volume by nearly 90% and send compacted blocks into real recycling streams instead of landfills. Challenging soft plastic packaging waste Eduardo’s Bridal & Tuxedo has served customers for more than 35 years – from wedding gowns to tuxedos and quinceañera dresses. However, every rental garment arrives wrapped in soft plastic film: shipping wrap, protective covers, dry-cleaning bags, accessory packaging. Previously, this lightweight but bulky material was bagged and sent to landfill. Access to soft plastic recycling in the region was limited, and traditional recycling haulers did not accept film plastics. The result: overflowing bins, higher waste removal costs, and a missed opportunity to support sustainability goals valued by customers and employees, as well as to participate in structured business recycling programs. Solution Clear Drop installed the SPC directly in the back-room storage area, where plastic waste is generated. Staff received quick onboarding with simple signage so the workflow required no habit change. Soft plastics are now collected in one place and compacted into dense blocks using the SPC’s patented surface-softening technology. These space-saving blocks are stored cleanly, picked up monthly, and processed by Clear Drop’s recycling partners – ensuring the waste remains in a circular economy. “It was easy to get the team onboard. We generate so much plastic packaging just unboxing dresses. It was great to finally have something to do with it besides toss it.” — Laura D., store manager. The Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) quickly became part of the daily routine, turning loose plastic into tidy, labeled blocks that fit seamlessly into existing back-of-house processes. Soft Plastic Compactor use case During the two-month pilot, the team collected garment wrap, shrink film from shipments, and dry-cleaning bags. Instead of piling up loose in trash bags, these materials became stackable, labeled SPC blocks ready for real recycling. No disruption to busy fitting-room workflow No additional storage needs for bulky waste Clear visibility of sustainability in action for staff and customers “It’s small, quiet, and honestly kind of satisfying to use. Makes us feel like we’re part of the solution, not just the problem.” — Sylvia B., sales manager. Results Eduardo’s Bridal & Tuxedo reduced soft plastic waste volume by approximately 90%, freeing valuable back-room space and lowering waste handling costs. The success of this pilot has led the business to consider expanding the SPC to its second location, along with customer-facing messaging that highlights their sustainability efforts. Their case shows that even a traditionally waste-intensive service business can make measurable progress with simple, scalable technology like the Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC). Bring Waste Reduction to Your Business See how the SPC can simplify soft plastic management and support your corporate sustainability goals. Learn more for business Explore SPC for your operations Frequently Asked Questions How much waste volume can the SPC reduce? On average, businesses see up to a 90% reduction in soft plastic volume depending on monthly usage and the types of packaging handled. What types of plastics can the SPC process? The SPC processes most soft film plastics, including garment bags, shipping wrap, bubble wrap, plastic mailers, and packaging film. PVC and PS are excluded and should not be placed in the device. How does pickup or recycling work for businesses? Compacted blocks are stored on-site and collected based on a program tailored to each location, ensuring all recyclable soft plastics enter the correct processing stream through Clear Drop’s recycling partners. Does the SPC require changes in workflow? No. The SPC integrates easily into typical back-of-house processes and requires minimal staff time, so teams can keep focusing on customers while improving sustainability performance.
Clear Drop: how we’re revolutionizing home wast...
Most household waste still ends up in landfills, not because people do not want to recycle, but because recycling systems are not designed for everything we throw away. Clear Drop...
Clear Drop: how we’re revolutionizing home waste management
Most household waste still ends up in landfills, not because people do not want to recycle, but because recycling systems are not designed for everything we throw away. Clear Drop enables a new way of managing soft plastic and organic waste right at home, making recycling easier, cleaner, and more efficient. Our goal is simple: remove the burden from households while ensuring that what leaves your home is actually processed, not discarded. Why Clear Drop? Clear Drop is a symbol of the neutral impact of humankind on nature. It is a metaphor for what remains after human consumption. Every day we as humans consume food and buy many products in packaging. It results in waste – plastic packaging, empty bottles, paper, glass, cans, organic waste etc. While only a marginal part of that is truly recycled, the footprint of human consumption is very high. The goal of Clear Drop is to reduce this footprint to a single clear drop. A new concept of pre-recycling Pre-recycling means optimizing waste at the source. Instead of hoping the recycling system will sort it out later, Clear Drop appliances prepare waste correctly right at home. It reduces volume, prevents contamination, and ensures soft plastics and food waste enter the proper recycling streams. The result: less landfill waste, fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and a straightforward approach households can stick to every day. Pre-recycling is the approach that meets current challenges where the recycling system can’t deal with all types of waste we generate. Pre-recycling means preparing waste for its further efficient recycling before it is dropped into the recycling bin. Currently, some materials tackled by Clear Drop’s home appliances are literally not recycled as soft plastic, not being collected conveniently enough. The regular recycling process is often ineffective: trucks “transporting air”, and labor-intensive separation – together they consume a lot of energy, resources and create pollution of their own. With pre-recycling, discarded items are conveniently separated and prepared for recycling on the spot, facilitating waste reduction. Further on, the material is prepared for storing at home and further delivery to the recycling facilities of our partners. It is cleaner, denser, more convenient for transporting and all-around more manageable for further processing. Moreover, we guarantee recycling. The actual problems we address Challenging soft plastic waste An estimated five trillion plastic bags are used annually worldwide, not including numbers of film packaging and other types of soft plastic. Only 1% of households can recycle film at home today. Less than 10% of soft plastic is recycled, and the data is still not always being calculated and reported. Unlike some traditionally recyclable commodities, such as PET bottles or HDPE bottles, there is not very much publicly available information on the generation and composition of film and flexible packaging.Soft plastic is perceived as a barrier to the efficient process of recycling other types of plastic while being put together in a blue bin for recycling, as described in more detail in our overview of soft plastic recycling challenges. Soft plastics are lightweight, flexible and inexpensive to produce. This has made them popular choices for packaging. But this ignores the problems of disposal, including harm to nature and people when it ends up in landfills. Unless it’s compacted in a solid substance that changes the process of processing, soft plastics can get tangled or stuck in machinery at recycling or waste-processing facilities, causing inefficiencies and disruptions in the process. Clear Drop solution: compacting soft plastic waste Clear Drop offers the first step in solving this problem – business and home appliances that can prepare soft plastic waste for further transportation and actual recycling. Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) significantly simplifies the soft plastic collection and transforms fluffy packaging into a shape-preserving 12 × 8 × 4-inch block. It happens with the help of a patented plastic surface-softening technology to keep soft plastic compacted for storage and transportation that is safe for users and the environment. SPC accepts all major types of soft plastic packaging (excluding PVC and PS which are dangerous by nature) like food wrappers, soft plastic containers, shopping bags, cling film, and other types of packaging from your purchases.The device stores around one month of soft plastic waste and provides low energy consumption. The soft plastic prepared by the SPC is easy to pick up and transport, making it more manageable than any other option. The soft plastic block can be mailed to Clear Drop. We offer end-2-end service in collaboration with our recycling partners which adds more possibilities to soft plastic waste reduction in landfills. Make Soft Plastic Recycling Easier Turn bulky packaging into compact, ready-to-recycle blocks using the Clear Drop Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC). It simplifies storage, improves recycling efficiency, and guarantees that soft plastics will not go to landfill. Learn more about Clear Drop® Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) How to Manage Soft Plastics at Home Soft plastics are everywhere in the home – from delivery mailers and snack packaging to produce bags and wrapping film. To make sure they are handled properly and stay out of landfills: Keep soft plastics separate from bottles and other recyclables. Ensure packaging is empty and reasonably clean. Compact them to reduce storage space and prevent tangling at facilities. Send compacted blocks via Clear Drop’s mail-in service for guaranteed recycling. This empowers households to contribute to a cleaner plastic supply chain with minimal effort. Dealing with the consequences of organic waste Organic waste is just as harmful to the environment as plastic if it ends up in landfills instead of being composted. When compostable materials, like food scraps and yard waste, are thrown in with regular trash, they end up in landfills. These materials could have been repurposed into nutrient-rich compost to enrich the soil and contribute to waste reducion, but instead, they take up valuable landfill space and contribute to 11% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. In landfills, organic waste decomposes anaerobically (without oxygen), producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane is approximately 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, contributing significantly to climate change. Organic waste in landfills contributes to the production of leachate – a toxic liquid that can seep into the ground, potentially contaminating soil and water sources. Composting not only recycles nutrients but also helps sequester carbon in the soil, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Without composting, this potential benefit is lost. Organics Collector: new technology to close the loop for organic waste To not let organic waste end up in a landfill, people don’t need to do composting by themselves to support waste reduction. Clear Drop makes collecting organic waste at home convenient, uninterrupted and without an unpleasant smell, leaks, dissolving organic bags, flies or the necessity to frequently empty the bin with one more home appliance – Organics Collector. Organics Collector (OC) stores and gradually accumulates food waste for several days up to one week. At the same time, the device helps to avoid the appearance of unpleasant odors and insects. Featuring non-energy-intensive processes, the OC consumes very little energy. The unique combination of the O3 generator and filtration system makes sure unpleasant smell is eliminated. Additionally, while stored, the organics in OC undergo a dehumidification process, reducing their moisture content by 30–40%. This makes all OC-collected material easier to transport and pick up and preserves composting features of the material. Once the bin is full, the dried organics can be disposed of at a municipal waste collection point or go to your local or community compost pit. You can also learn more about why electric composters are not real composting and how solutions like OC keep organics suitable for professional composting. Collect Food Waste Without the Mess The Clear Drop Organics Collector helps you store organic waste for several days odor-free and leak-free, reducing landfill emissions and keeping nutrients available for composting. Discover Clear Drop® Organics Collector (OC) Clear Drop® Founder's Message “These are just the first two systems we’re bringing to market. The problem is massive, and Pre-recycling is still in its infancy. But many more solutions are coming. Our promise to the world is that everything processed by our appliances will be recycled — if disposed of properly. We wouldn’t do this if we couldn’t make a difference. Let’s work together to make our future look like a hopeful science fiction story — not the bleak dystopias we risk if we don’t change our approach to waste management.” – Ivan Arbouzov, Founder & CEO of Clear Drop® Frequently Asked Questions What is pre-recycling? Pre-recycling is the process of separating and preparing waste at home to ensure it can be recycled efficiently instead of ending up in a landfill. It’s a form of smarter home waste management that optimizes materials before they enter traditional recycling systems. Which types of plastic can Clear Drop SPC compact? Clear Drop SPC handles major types of soft plastic packaging such as food wrappers, shopping bags, produce bags, bubble wrap, and other flexible plastics, excluding PVC and PS. These are typically the soft plastics that are not recyclable curbside. Does Organics Collector make compost? No. The Organics Collector (OC) does not make finished compost. It preserves essential organic matter by partially drying food scraps and controlling odors, ensuring they remain suitable for industrial or community composting. How does Clear Drop ensure recycling actually happens? Through partnerships with specialized recycling facilities and a mail-in system, Clear Drop guarantees that soft plastics processed by SPC are recycled responsibly, rather than being sent to landfill. Together with OC, these pre-recycling solutions turn home waste management into a reliable path to real recycling.
