Innovators: Clear Drop Creates Zero-Trash Homes, One Piece of Plastic At a Time

I sat with Ivan Arbouzov, the CEO of Clear Drop. He builds tools you can put in a kitchen, not in a sorting plant. His bet is simple. If homes prepare waste the right way, recycling gets real.

Clear Drop’s first headline product is a soft plastic compactor. Think bags, wraps, and film, the floaty stuff that clogs machines and blows down streets. The unit packs film under high pressure, then uses a controlled touch of heat so the layers stick to themselves. No stink, no smoke, no chemistry set, just enough warmth to bind a clean block that can travel. That block goes to a named recycler, not to a wish bin. Ivan and his team stand at the plant and watch loads get processed. They refuse greenwash. Either it moves through the system, or they change the design.