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10 Soft Plastics You Didn’t Know You Could Recy...
Key Takeaways Only 1% of U.S. households have access to curbside film recycling. Home devices like the Clear Drop Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) fill that gap. Soft plastics make up...
10 Soft Plastics You Didn’t Know You Could Recycle at Home
Key Takeaways Only 1% of U.S. households have access to curbside film recycling. Home devices like the Clear Drop Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) fill that gap. Soft plastics make up ≈ 21% of the U.S. packaging market, yet only about 13% of all plastic packaging gets recycled nationally. Recycling soft films can reduce GHG emissions by 8%–23% compared to virgin plastic. Every ton of recycled plastics saves ≈ 5,800 kWh of energy and 1.7 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. No matter how diligent you are with recycling, most plastics labeled "recyclable" still end up in landfills. Curbside systems in the U.S. aren't designed for soft films and flexible packaging — meaning these materials often get rejected at the facility. Only 1% of U.S. households can currently recycle film plastics through local collection (The Recycling Partnership, 2021). The Clear Drop Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) fills that gap — letting you collect and compact soft plastics at home so they can be properly recycled through certified partners. Why Soft Plastic Recycling Matters 21% of U.S. packaging sales are soft plastics — a $41.5 billion market with a recycling rate near zero 13.3% national plastic packaging recycling rate — soft plastics represent only a fraction of that 3.1B lbs of film plastic must be recovered annually just to reach a 30% recycling rate 8–23% reduction in GHG emissions when recycling flexible plastics vs. producing virgin material Clearly, there's plenty of room for improvement — and it can start one home at a time with the Clear Drop SPC. 10 Surprising Soft Plastics You Can Recycle All of the following items are often rejected by curbside systems but can be accepted by the Clear Drop SPC, once cleaned and dried: 1. Ziplock bags Rinse, dry, and add to the SPC. 2. Bread bags (typically LDPE #4) Empty, shake out crumbs, and dry completely before compacting. 3. Cereal box liners Separate the inner film liner, dry it, and add to your SPC. 4. Frozen food bags After use, defrost, rinse off residue, dry, and add to the SPC. 5. Bubble mailers Plastic-only mailers (without paper layers) can be deflated and compacted. 6. Snack wrappers Single-layer poly wrappers (e.g., granola bars) are fine — just avoid any with metallic film. 7. Produce wrap Most cling film from fruit and veggie trays is LDPE — rinse, dry, and compact. 8. Pet food bags Clean out oily residue from PP (polypropylene) bags, dry, and compact. 9. Dry cleaning bags Remove tags or tape, dry, and feed into the SPC. 10. Packaging air pillows Deflate, flatten, and compact these LDPE shipping cushions. When compacted, all of the above films become part of your SPC block — a dense, clean unit ready for recycling. How to Prepare Soft Plastics for SPC Recycling Clean: Rinse off all food or oil. Dry: Air-dry thoroughly. Compact: Insert the plastic into your SPC. Ship or Drop Off: Send your full soft-plastic block to a Clear Drop partner. Do's and don'ts Do: Rinse and dry plastics, remove labels, keep items light.Don't: Include wet, dirty, or foil-lined film. What Happens After Collection: The SPC Recycling Process From your home to a new product SPC blocks go to certified U.S. recycling partners like Frankfort Plastics in Indiana — where plastics are sorted, shredded, cleaned, and pelletized into new resin used for outdoor furniture, decking, and composite pallets. Transport & Inspection: SPC blocks go to certified U.S. partners, such as Frankfort Plastics in Indiana. Sorting & Shredding: Plastics are sorted and granulated. Cleaning & Pelletizing: Flakes are washed and melted into new resin. Reuse: Resin becomes new durable construction products — outdoor furniture, decking, composite pallets. The energy impact According to the EPA, recycling one ton of plastics saves ≈ 5,800 kWh of energy and prevents 1.7 metric tons of CO₂ emissions (EPA 2024). By using the SPC, you help turn hard-to-recycle films into feedstock for new products — closing the loop. The Clear Drop SPC in Numbers Metric U.S. Statistic Source Soft-plastic share of packaging ≈ 21% ($41.5 billion market) Packaging Digest 2023 National plastic-packaging recycling rate 13.3% US Plastics Pact 2024 Households with film recycling access ≈ 1% The Recycling Partnership 2021 Goal for 30% film recycling 3.1 billion pounds needed annually The Recycling Partnership 2021 GHG savings from film recycling 8%–23% Plastic Film Recycling Org Plastic recycled in North America (2025) 4.2 million tons (≈ 13% of PE/PET/PP) Sustainable Packaging Coalition 2025 Be a leader in better recycling Recycle more than you thought possible with the Clear Drop SPC — and cleanly collect food scraps with the Organics Collector. Explore Clear Drop Solutions →
How Clear Drop’s Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) R...
At Clear Drop, we're redefining what responsible soft plastic recycling looks like. Our Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) ensures that your household soft plastics don't just get collected, they get truly...
How Clear Drop’s Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) Recycling System Works | Clear Drop
At Clear Drop, we're redefining what responsible soft plastic recycling looks like. Our Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) ensures that your household soft plastics don't just get collected, they get truly recycled into new, long-lasting materials through certified U.S. partners. Key Takeaways The Clear Drop SPC compacts household soft plastics into dense blocks ready for certified recycling. Compacted blocks are shipped via USPS prepaid labels to Frankfort Plastics (Indiana), a verified U.S. recycling partner. Recycled material becomes durable goods: construction products, outdoor furniture, and composite panels. The system is fully traceable, so you know exactly where your plastic goes and what it becomes. Use the ClearDrop Recycling Scanner to identify which soft plastics can go in the SPC. Where the waste goes after the SPC Every SPC block you send represents real impact. Once compacted, your soft plastics are shipped to verified recycling partners like Frankfort Plastics (Indiana), specialists in processing post-consumer soft plastics into high-quality, reusable raw materials. Transparency is at the core of Clear Drop's mission. You deserve to know where your waste goes and what it becomes after leaving your home. ~9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. Most ends up in landfills or the environment. 100% of SPC blocks are shipped to verified U.S. recycling partners, with no guessing where your plastic goes. 3 prepaid mailers are included each quarter. Drop them at USPS or schedule a pickup from home. 0 soft plastics are accepted by most curbside programs. The SPC helps fill that gap. How Clear Drop recycling system works Our process is simple, traceable, and circular, designed for convenience and accountability. Receive your mailers.Each quarter, you'll receive a set of three prepaid SPC mailers with shipping labels. Send your compacted block.Once your block is full, place it in a mailer, attach the prepaid label, and seal it. Drop it off or schedule pickup.Leave your package for USPS pickup or drop it at any nearby post office. We take it from there.Your block is delivered to a certified facility, where it's sorted, shredded, and transformed into recycled soft plastic for new products. Watch the full ClearDrop SPC recycling process on YouTube to see how your soft plastics are compacted, shipped, and transformed into new materials. What the waste becomes after it's recycled Your compacted plastics begin a new, sustainable life. After processing, the recycled SPC material is used in: End Product Category Composite decking and outdoor furniture Construction & outdoor Composite panels Industrial components Durable construction materials Building & infrastructure Each block you send helps reduce landfill waste, prevent microplastic pollution, and support circular manufacturing. How Clear Drop compares to other soft plastic recycling options Clear Drop SPC Store Drop-Off Curbside Recycling Accepts soft plastics ✅ Yes ✅ Limited ❌ No Verified end destination ✅ Yes ❌ No ❌ No Works from home ✅ Yes ❌ No ✅ Yes Traceable recycling chain ✅ Yes ❌ No ❌ No Prepaid shipping included ✅ Yes ❌ No N/A Material becomes new products ✅ Verified ⚠️ Unverified ❌ No Our recycling partners We carefully select and audit our U.S. partners to ensure full accountability and compliance with national recycling standards. Current verified partner: Frankfort Plastics — Indiana, USA (post-consumer soft plastic recycling) We're expanding our network with additional regional facilities planned for 2026, ensuring shorter logistics chains and a lower carbon footprint. Why Clear Drop matters for sustainable waste management Most soft plastics never get recycled. Instead, they break down into microplastics and contaminate soil, water, and air. Did you know? Soft plastics wrap around sorting machinery at recycling facilities, causing shutdowns and contaminating other materials. That is why curbside programs usually reject them. Compacting soft plastics reduces their volume by up to 50x, making transport dramatically more efficient and cost-effective for recyclers. Recycled soft plastic becomes long-lasting materials like composite decking and construction panels, not single-use products. Why this matters When soft plastics aren't properly recycled, they fragment into microplastics that contaminate soil, waterways, and the food chain. The SPC closes this loop by ensuring your plastics reach a verified facility, not a landfill. With Clear Drop's SPC system, you're helping: Prevent plastic fragmentation and microplastic pollution Cut greenhouse gas emissions from landfill decomposition Promote transparent, traceable recycling across the U.S. Together, we're building a clear, closed-loop recycling model, one SPC block at a time. 1 year of using SPC Ready to start recycling soft plastics from home? The SPC handles collection, compaction, and shipping to verified U.S. recyclers, all in one system. Pre-order the SPC
How Geekdom sparked early wins in soft plastic ...
Geekdom is a cornerstone of San Antonio’s startup and innovation ecosystem. Spread across four floors in a prominent downtown building, it houses approximately 40 startups and plays host to a...
How Geekdom sparked early wins in soft plastic recovery with the Clear Drop's SPC
Geekdom is a cornerstone of San Antonio’s startup and innovation ecosystem. Spread across four floors in a prominent downtown building, it houses approximately 40 startups and plays host to a steady calendar of events: game jams, hackathons, seminars, and tech conferences. It’s the epicenter of the city’s entrepreneurial and venture community. Like many innovation hubs, Geekdom grapples with high volumes of everyday office & food packaging waste. Prior to the pilot, there was no structured process to recover or reduce this plastic waste stream. Pilot goals: Understand employee interest and engagement around soft plastic recycling Measure volume and speed of soft plastic accumulation Evaluate SPC’s role in supporting Geekdom’s broader sustainability and community values Approach Geekdom saw potential in the SPC’s ability to foster a shared community action around sustainability. The device was installed in a common area used by many different startup teams throughout the day, encouraging collaborative stewardship. The pilot was supported by custom signage near the kitchen/break room, table tents on community tables, and direct email outreach to all staff and tenants coordinated with Geekdom’s operations team. Geekdom staff even made their own signage :) Metrics: 1 SPC deployed 2 full soft plastic blocks created in under 2 months Employee participation was tracked qualitatively through conversations and visual observation Improvements are now in the works after receiving awesome critical feedback from staff on signage and the device’s instant recognizability as a recycling device. Materials inserted: Mailers and plastic wrappers from startup equipment Grocery bags, sandwich wrappers, and snack packaging from shared lunches Miscellaneous soft film plastics found around events “As someone who loves to recycle I want this in my home! It’s so easy to use, and gives me a way to recycle what is normally trash” - Julez Perez. Summary Geekdom views the SPC not just as a waste solution but as a community-building tool. In just two weeks, tenants filled a full block with soft plastics, demonstrating both engagement and the real waste footprint of a single floor. The operations team is now in deeper conversations with ClearDrop to potentially expand the pilot to multiple floors. Their slow-roll strategy allows for organic feedback and culture-based insights, helping refine messaging and product design while reinforcing Geekdom’s mission to lead in innovation and sustainability.
How Trinity University advanced soft plastic re...
Flexible plastic waste is one of the most persistent challenges on college campuses. From snack wrappers to shipping film used in media facilities, most soft plastics end up in landfills....
How Trinity University advanced soft plastic recycling with the SPC
Flexible plastic waste is one of the most persistent challenges on college campuses. From snack wrappers to shipping film used in media facilities, most soft plastics end up in landfills. Trinity University partnered with Clear Drop to pilot the Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) inside the Richardson Communications Center — a space connecting academics, student media, and public programming — to test how a simple visibility shift could spark real sustainability participation. Trinity University, a nationally ranked liberal arts institution in San Antonio, Texas, enrolls approximately 2,600 students and maintains a student-to-faculty ratio of roughly 8:1. The university is known for its academic rigor, outstanding alumni outcomes, and architecturally significant campus. Trinity consistently ranks among the top liberal arts colleges in the country and holds the distinction of being the number one liberal arts university in Texas. Within the Dorothy A. and James W. Laurie Auditorium complex lies the Richardson Communications Center, home to the university’s Department of Communication and KRTU-FM (Jazz 91.7). KRTU is a premier jazz and alternative radio station serving the greater Southwest — a campus and community hub where media production, learning, and cultural programming intersect. Laurie Auditorium itself is a 2,700-seat venue that hosts a wide range of events, from academic lectures and commencement ceremonies to public performances, community discussions, and special guest visits. Its high visibility and diverse audience made it an ideal site to explore a new sustainability initiative. Project goals The goal of this pilot was to understand how the SPC performs in a high-traffic environment that brings together: Students in media and communication programs Faculty and staff working daily in shared spaces KRTU-FM hosts, volunteers, and production teams Visitors and community members attending events Guest speakers and partners engaged in cultural programming This allowed Trinity to evaluate not only the waste reduction impact but also communication strategies that make sustainability efforts feel accessible and rewarding. Soft Plastic Compactor solution The SPC was installed in the Communication Department break room — a location integrated into daily student and staff routines within the Laurie Auditorium complex. Clear, friendly instructions helped everyone quickly understand what types of plastics belong in the device and why this matters for recycling outcomes. Instead of soft plastics piling up in bins or heading to landfill, the SPC turned them into compact blocks ready for recycling through Clear Drop’s partner network. The device became a conversation starter, reinforcing that taking part in sustainability can be practical, fast, and even satisfying. “Seeing wrappers and film compact in seconds is cathartic — it normalizes sustainable behavior.” — Dr. Althea Delwiche, Professor & Dept. Chair SPC use case Primary location Shared Communication Department break room within the Laurie Auditorium complex. Key user groups Communication faculty and administrative staff Students and student media workers KRTU DJs, station employees, and volunteers Event guests and visiting speakers Common soft plastic inputs Snack wrappers and drink packaging Film wrap from studio and tech deliveries Mailers and protective packaging for radio operations Plastics from hospitality support for events This variety of inputs revealed the types of soft plastic generated in an interdisciplinary learning and production environment, while also showing how easily different user groups could adopt the SPC as part of their daily routines. Early outcomes Increased awareness of soft plastic recycling among students and staff Higher engagement from users who had never recycled soft plastics before More visible sustainability action in a shared, high-traffic space Successful testing of messaging and signage formats for wider roll-out The pilot showed how placing the SPC where people naturally interact — not hidden behind facility doors — drives adoption from day one. Findings and new collaboration perspectives This pilot demonstrated that the SPC can thrive in educational environments where media production, learning, and public interaction overlap. Trinity University continues evaluating broader expansion across campus departments. Clear Drop is exploring additional installations to support sustainability goals tied to student engagement, waste reduction, and campus innovation. Colleges play a key role in shaping habits that last a lifetime. By making soft plastic recycling easy and visible, Trinity is helping build those habits now — right at the source of waste generation. Bring Soft Plastic Recycling to Your Campus Clear Drop® partners with universities to reduce flexible plastic waste in student and staff spaces with measurable results. Contact our team to start a pilot at your campus: https://onecleardrop.com/pages/for-business
From soft plastic to microplastic: what to know
Soft plastic packaging surrounds almost every product we buy — bags, wrappers, film, shipping packaging. But when we throw it away, the story doesn't end. Most soft plastics are not...
From soft plastic to microplastic: what to know
Soft plastic packaging surrounds almost every product we buy — bags, wrappers, film, shipping packaging. But when we throw it away, the story doesn't end. Most soft plastics are not accepted in curbside recycling, so they break apart into invisible microplastics that move into air, soil, water — and even into the human body. 23× more microplastics in agricultural soils than in oceans — a largely invisible crisis Blood microplastics have been found in human blood, brain, lungs, placenta, and testicles 10K chemical additives may be present in plastics found in soil — most of them unregulated 90% reduction in soft plastic volume possible with compaction — slowing fragmentation before recycling How Soft Plastics Turn Into Microplastics Soft plastics break down due to a combination of UV radiation, abrasion, and weathering. These processes cause the polymer chains in plastics to degrade into smaller and smaller particles. UV Radiation Sunlight — particularly ultraviolet radiation — can break down the chemical bonds within plastic, causing it to become brittle and crack. This process, known as photodegradation, discolors plastic and reduces its mechanical strength. Interestingly, scientists from the UK and the University of Cape Town found that plastics of the same composition degrade at different rates depending on their color. Black, white, and silver colorants protect plastic from UV damage — other pigments do not. Abrasion Physical forces like wave action, wind, foot traffic, and contact with rough surfaces wear plastic down and break it into smaller pieces. This is especially evident in marine environments. Weathering Weathering combines UV radiation, temperature fluctuations, and environmental factors. It accelerates degradation and makes plastics more susceptible to fragmentation over time. Why compaction helps When stored as a dense block, soft plastics are less exposed to sunlight and physical abrasion — slowing early fragmentation and buying more time before recycling. Why This Matters: The Impact on Air, Soil, and Human Health Air pollution Nearly a dozen studies have documented airborne microplastic concentrations worldwide — meaning we breathe microplastics every day. Airborne microplastics include fibers, films, fragments, foam, granules, and spheres. Soft plastic particles may even influence cloud formation, contributing to climate change. Marine system pollution Microplastics enter oceans from wastewater, weathering, fragmentation, and fishing. They act as vectors for pollutants by adsorbing or releasing contaminants, which then harm marine organisms through inflammation, oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and reproductive decline. Soil pollution Agricultural soils now hold 23 times more microplastics than oceans. Plastics in soil may contain up to 10,000 chemical additives — often unregulated — affecting soil health, plants, microbiota, and eventually human health. Health risks Microplastics have been found in human blood, brain, lungs, placenta, and more according to recent studies. They can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, immune disruption, and cardiovascular risks. Microplastics were recently found in human testicles, potentially linked to declining sperm counts. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals in plastics — phthalates, BPA/BPS, and PFAS — are associated with hormone disruption and reproductive harm. The direct prevention step Because soft plastics degrade faster into smaller particles, reducing their exposure and fragmentation at home is one of the most immediate actions available today. Compacting soft plastics into secure blocks and sending them for proper recycling reduces the particles entering ecosystems — and human bodies. What You Can Do to Reduce Microplastic Formation You can't eliminate soft plastic overnight. But you can reduce the volume of microplastics created from the packaging you use. Collect soft plastics separately Don't toss soft plastics into general trash. Once mixed and compacted with other waste, they often end up in landfills or incineration — and eventually become microplastic pollution. Educate your circle Share facts, not fear. Encourage separate collection at home or at your workplace. Avoid soft plastic when you can Refill, reuse, or choose rigid or paper packaging — these materials are more recyclable and less likely to fragment. Don't burn or shred it Burning releases toxins. Shredding accelerates microplastic formation. Use a compaction system Compacting soft plastics reduces surface exposure and prevents early fragmentation. Clear Drop's Soft Plastic Compactor provides a full-cycle solution with real downstream recycling through certified partner facilities. As awareness grows, so does the ability to act. The journey from soft plastics to microplastics begins with everyday choices — and in those moments, prevention is possible. Make soft plastic disposal safer for the planet The Clear Drop® Soft Plastic Compactor turns bulky packaging into dense blocks — reducing surface exposure, slowing fragmentation, and making proper recycling easier. Learn more about the Soft Plastic Compactor →
