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Clear Drop Turns Soft Plastic Into Bricks
7 Jan
Summary
- Clear Drop's Soft Plastic Composter heats and compresses soft plastics into bricks.
- The device costs $1,400 or can be paid in installments with recycling services.
- Pharmacies are adopting the composter to manage significant plastic waste daily.
Clear Drop has launched the Soft Plastic Composter (SPC), a device designed to tackle the difficult-to-recycle soft plastics. Resembling a trash can, the SPC accepts items such as plastic bags and gloves, heats them, and compresses them into shoebox-sized bricks. These bricks are then shipped to a dedicated facility in Indiana for processing. While the SPC comes with a $1,400 price tag, Clear Drop offers a payment plan of $200 upfront followed by $50 per month for 24 months, which includes recycling services.
The initial production run of the SPC is nearly sold out, indicating strong demand from both households and small businesses. Pharmacies, in particular, have found the device invaluable, processing several bricks daily due to the volume of soft plastic waste they generate. An average household, by contrast, produces one brick every two to three weeks. Clear Drop advises against recycling vinyl due to its tendency to melt under heat.
Recognizing the desire for sustainable solutions, Clear Drop is developing a more affordable and lighter model. They are also exploring methods for processing hard plastics, though their current focus remains on pliable materials. The company highlights that plastic bottles are already well-handled by existing recycling infrastructure, making soft plastics their primary area of innovation and intervention.
