听Marking its 17th year of recognizing environmental leadership, the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) announced the recipients of the 2026 Arrow Awards at the California Resource Recovery Association鈥檚 50th Annual Conference and Tradeshow.听
For nearly two decades, the Arrow Awards have spotlighted pioneering organizations that started with hyper-local initiatives and grew into global leaders. This year鈥檚 awardees build on that legacy, proving that strong community ties and local engagement are the foundation for scalable, real-world solutions.听
What do beer and dish soap have in common? Both product types demonstrate how California businesses are finding creative ways to keep valuable materials in use and eliminate waste. This year鈥檚 Arrow Award recipients represent innovative solutions that are helping transform some of California鈥檚 most challenging waste streams.听
鈥淔or 17 years, CPSC has honored visionaries who refuse to accept waste as an inevitability,” said Doug Kobold, Executive Director of CPSC. “At a time when communities across the country are struggling with complex waste streams like plastics and textiles, these winners prove that local engagement drives global impact. They aren’t just adapting to the future of recycling – they are building it.鈥�听
The 2026 Green Arrow Award for systems and design innovation goes to San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative (sdbrewcycling.org). The Green Arrow Award is given to an organization demonstrating an innovative systems approach that removes or reduces problematic attributes present in products. San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative demonstrates an innovative approach of recycling a tricky urban plastic stream. Local beer production materials, such as grain bags and plastic can toppers, are hard-to-recycle. Their 鈥淧lastic to Pavement鈥� program has led to over forty can topper collection centers throughout the city of San Diego. The Brewcycling Collaborative stays committed to sustainability and offers solutions to ensure recyclability.听
Tony Hackett (cawrecycles.org) is the winner of the 2026 Bow & Arrow Award for coalition building and creative partnerships. Bow & Arrow Award recipients demonstrate synergistic 听relationships between producers, distributors, retailers, public agencies, and other stakeholders. Through his outreach, education, and advocacy work, Tony Hackett, a Policy Associate from Californians Against 91TV, represents Bow-and-Arrow principles through his advocacy for vape waste 鈥� an emerging hazardous waste stream. CPSC is proud to be a co-sponsor with Californians Against 91TV and two other organizations for AB 762, a bill that aims to ban the sale of single use vaping devices.听
The winner of the 2026 Infinity Arrow Award for service and take-back went to Refill Mercantile (refillmercantile.com). The Infinity Award is given to an organization to recognize an outstanding Take Back program for one or more products. Refill Mercantile accomplishes this by prioritizing a refill-first model that provides reusable containers for household and personal care products. Refill Mercantile partners with bulk suppliers to create closed-loop systems, including a shaving blade take-back program. By carefully curating clean, long-lasting, reusable, plastic-free alternatives, their business emphasizes responsible manufacturing that prevents waste.听
Project Ropa (projectropa.org) is the recipient of the 2026 Golden Arrow Award for overall excellence in product stewardship. The Golden Arrow Award is given to an organization that exemplifies all the characteristics of the Green, Bow & Arrow, and Infinity Awards. Project Ropa is a resource to their community by collecting, sorting, and redistributing donated clothing and essential textiles to individuals and families experiencing housing instability and poverty. Project Ropa emphasizes the importance of fostering relationships between community members while diverting textiles from the landfill. For instance, in 2025 alone, Project Ropa distributed 124,000 items to those in need, giving 62 tons of textiles a new life in their communities.听
In addition to recognizing businesses, CPSC honors local government leadership. John Davis from the Mojave Desert & Mountain Recycling Authority is the 2026 Associate of the Year. John Davis has played a key role in advancing education and advocacy, fostering collaboration, and supporting sustainable waste management throughout the region. CPSC is proud to work with John Davis on a solar panel pilot project that is focused on testing solar panel glass recycling and incorporating solar panel reuse training in educational institutions.听
CPSC also recognizes Fibershed as its 2026 Sponsor of the Year. Fibershed is a non-profit organization developing regional fiber systems that expand opportunities to implement climate beneficial agriculture, rebuild regional manufacturing, and educate the public about the benefits of soil-to-soil fiber and dye systems. For our Merced County textile reuse pilot project, CPSC collaborated with Fibershed to host an educational event at a local cotton farm highlighting the cotton production process and cotton recycling/reuse.听