Redefining what it means to clean, Ryan Lupberger launched Cleancult in 2019 with Zachary Bedrosian with a shared mission to take on the cleaning industry’s dirtiest secret: plastic waste. Together they created the first company in the world to successfully package soaps and detergents into 100% recyclable paper-based cartons, prioritizing refilling over landfilling.
Ryan’s lightbulb moment stemmed from a simple observation: the absence of an ingredient list on his laundry detergent bottle.
This discovery prompted him to develop a cleaning system with no secrets, none of the harsh stuff and no single-use plastic waste in its wake. By combining patented paper-based packaging, better-for-you ingredients, forever aluminum bottles and an entire product portfolio that is Plastic Neutral Certified, verified by rePurpose Global, Cleancult reduces the amount of single-use plastic that ends up in our oceans and landfills.
The key to Cleancult’s success is in large part due to Ryan’s vision of “changing behavior without changing behavior.” Alumni of Unreasonable Institute – a social venture incubator for companies trying to solve the world’s biggest problems – Ryan embraced the idea that Cleancult not only needed to be the most renewable cleaning solution, it also had to offer the most effective and convenient products at competitive price points.
Making history with cleaning products in milk cartons, their innovative system pairs paper cartons and eternal aluminum bottles designed to be infinitely refilled to cut 90% of single-use plastic waste from home cleaning routines. The all-purpose cleaners and dish soaps are the first-ever filled and ready-to-use aluminum bottles in their categories at mass-market retail.
Under Ryan’s leadership, the brand has a double-digit patent and trademark portfolio. The Cleancult concept has garnered $50 million in funding from leading investors – and top eco partners including the U.S. Plastic Pact, How2Recycle and Sustainable Packaging Coalition.
Matching sustainability and efficacy has garnered Cleancult recognition, including Good Housekeeping’s 2023 Best Cleaning & Organizing Award and being crowned a Giga-Guru by Walmart for its role in Project Gigaton. Cleancult was named a 2024 Real Leaders Top Impact Company and featured in Inc.’s 2023 Best in Business List under the Sustainability Category.
A Bachelor of Science graduate from Babson College of Entrepreneurship, Lupberger has received recognition for his trailblazing contributions to cleaning up the household cleaning industry, honored as a 40 Under 40 by Retail TouchPoints two years in a row in 2021 and 2022, and a Top 100 Innovation CEO by World Biz Magazine. As a leading figure in the “clean cleaning” industry, Ryan is regularly tapped as an expert commentator for the likes of American Express Changemakers, The Today Show, and Tedx.
Looking ahead to convert even more consumers to No-Plastic Fanatics, Ryan continues to innovate to bridge accessibility via mainstream retailers.
Cleancult is available online and at Walmart, Albertsons, Kroger, Walgreens, Harris Teeter, Amazon and more. Discover more at www.cleancult.com. Some cults are toxic. Not us.
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