Investigating the 61-pound machine that eats plastic and spits out bricks

Clear Drop's $1,400 Soft Plastic Compactor promises to solve the unrecyclable plastic problem by turning shopping bags and food packaging into 3-pound bricks that get mailed to recycling facilities. After extensive testing, the 61-pound machine proves clunky and prone to jamming, while the bricks must be shipped thousands of miles to a single recycling partner in Indiana, generating significant carbon emissions and raising questions about whether this expensive solution actually helps the environment.