Agense Stracquadanio
8 min read
09 November 2025
Stef Traa's vision is to create meaningful and lasting change, together. He is driven by the belief that an ambitious sustainability agenda should be accessible to everyone, and that there are always opportunities to be found in collaboration and engagement. Since 2024, Stef Traa and cofounder Natascha Hermsen have grown this idea into a company with ten stores across the Netherlands.
Droppie works by offering incentives via its app that encourages consumers to bring their recyclable waste to one of its stores. They can also choose to donate their rewards to a good cause. Droppie then carefully checks the quality. The plastic it collects is only 3% contaminated (ten times cleaner than the market average), and the company reuses 30% of electronic materials and 85% of textiles. In partnership with both private and public sector entities, the company collects this consumer waste and records it in a comprehensive digital database. The high quality of the recovered materials enables their subsequent sale to recycling companies, supporting the full implementation of a circular economy.
In cofounding Droppie, Stef brought business-development experience acquired in the agri-food sector across multiple countries. Today, he bikes to every meeting, aiming at returning waste to the cycle by transforming it into a valuable resource.
What inspired you to found the company?
I really dislike litter. I’ve always been deeply bothered by the absurdity of throwing waste onto streets where kids play. So, I chose to channel that frustration into building a company. That is when I met my cofounder, Natascha.
What problem did you see?
For many people recycling was complicated and scattered, requiring taking the materials to several different locations. Our stores, located in shopping areas, simplify this by collecting twenty types of materials in one place. Droppie’s name reflects the act of dropping off waste, but in the Netherlands “drop” is also the word for the popular licorice candy. We took that into account while designing our stores, opting for a fresh, colorful and cartoonish style, not typically related to waste. Until now, there were no real incentives for people to recycle better. One year ago, we opened our first store in Amsterdam; today, we operate ten locations across the Netherlands – in The Hague, Rotterdam, and Utrecht – with 30,000 regular users.
“What helped us the most was to involve everyone in our challenges.”
What is your mission and vision?
We want to create a society in which new plastics are no longer needed because we can reuse existing resources. The goal is to show people that the materials that we throw away are valuable resources. And to grow to 70 locations in the next two years by expanding across the Netherlands and perhaps entering another European market.
What were the founding steps?
We began with initial funding from recycling and startup ecosystem experts – our early "angels" – and received support from the City of Amsterdam through programs like Amsterdam Circular, which helped us secure our first location. Within the first months, we launched our app and opened our first store as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
We started by doing. Before securing buyers for recyclables, opening the store helped us engage consumers and attract major recycling organizations. Today, we continue to experiment with new materials and waste streams. Experimenting is part of the industry.
What were some of the biggest challenges?
The real challenge for the green sector lies in securing funding. While many institutions, banks and venture capital firms promote sustainability agendas, their commitment often falls short in practice. In addition, the transition from the idea of a software-only solution to conceptualizing our store was one of the most difficult steps, but also the best decision we made.
“Flexibility and learning by doing are major elements of what we do.”
What was the most rewarding part of the journey so far?
The growing attention to the topic is incredibly rewarding. Reaching 40,000 users in a year who actively support our solution to a global issue is deeply encouraging. It’s also satisfying to spot our customer bags while cycling through Amsterdam, or to connect daily with new and returning users.
What made you choose Amsterdam as a base?
Amsterdam offers a vibrant startup ecosystem. Its accelerator programs, municipal initiatives and strong network of people working in sustainability and tech provide fertile ground for early-stage businesses to grow. It’s driven by a high concentration of talented individuals committed to tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Most Dutch cities offer a stimulating ecosystem, but in Amsterdam a lot of influences come together.
What do you think of the startup landscape in Europe?
Europe’s startup landscape is innovative and has seen great progress in recent years. But it still lags behind the US – not due to a lack of good ideas but a lack of investment.
“We want to create a society in which new plastics are no longer needed because we can reuse existing resources.”