Solid waste management and recycling continues to challenge communities. Some impacted more than others. Despite this, many companies and agencies in California have found ways to turn challenges into impactful opportunities. Six companies, organizations, and agencies were recognized this year by the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC)聽for creative approaches tackling the State鈥檚 most problematic products in our waste streams. CPSC proudly announced the 2024 Arrow Award winners at the State鈥檚 largest waste conference, California Resource Recovery Association鈥檚 48th聽Annual Conference and Tradeshow. The CRRA conference is a cornerstone for waste education for years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to shine light and honor these leaders for their community work that has a global impact,鈥� said Joanne Brasch, Director of Advocacy and Outreach for CPSC. Continue reading to learn more about the awardees and their industry-specific contributions to the circular economy.
Plastic Beach (plastic-beach.com) is the winner of the 2024 Green Arrow Award for system and design innovations. The Green Arrow Award is given to an organization demonstrating an innovative systems approach that removes or reduces toxic or other problematic attributes present in products. Plastic Beach demonstrates these principles with their innovative collection and recycling of plastic wrap and flex packaging waste that otherwise would have ended up in landfills in San Diego. Plastic wrap is often refused by many municipalities as it tends to tangle in Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs). Plastic Beach鈥檚 collection and recycling system helps keep this hard-to-manage product out of our waste stream and give it a second life.
国产麻豆boy Threads (homeboythreads.com) is the winner of the 2024 Bow & Arrow Award for coalition building and creative partnerships.聽Bow & Arrow Award recipients demonstrate synergistic relationships between producers, distributors, retailers, public agencies, and other stakeholders. 国产麻豆boy Threads makes incredible efforts in diverting secondhand items from the landfill while providing trauma informed job training and other career services to former gang members and the formerly incarcerated community in Los Angeles. 国产麻豆boy Threads has partnered with CPSC on multiple projects. 国产麻豆boy threads is engaged with CPSC and LA Sanitation on Phase 2 of CPSC鈥檚 Textile Project, to create a circular, and streamlined business model for textiles, in line with LA’s Green New Deal goals.
One Earth Recycling (oneearthrecycling.com) is the winner of the 2024 Infinity Arrow Award for service and take-back.聽The Infinity Award is given to an organization to recognize efforts to initiate an outstanding Take Back program for one or more products as an additional convenience and service to their customers. One Earth Recycling accomplishes this with their recycling kiosks, which provide recycling opportunities for aluminum, plastic, glass, metals, and electronics, and are designed for completely off-grid operation. These kiosks offer easy recycling in a convenient amount of space and offer community members an opportunity to get paid for the materials they drop off.
1plasticlife (1plasticlife.org) is the recipient of the 2024 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. 1plasticlife has established positive economic incentives for local unsheltered communities to collect, wash, and shred recycling plastic to create new products. In addition, 1plasticlife piloted an educational program teaching middle schoolers in the Los Angeles Unified School District how to identify and properly recycle plastics in their cafeteria with the hope to expand this program district wide.
In addition to our Arrow Awards, CPSC has recognized Kaitlyn Haberlin from the County of Santa Barbara as our 2024 Associate of the Year. Kaitlyn Haberlin worked passionately alongside CPSC to host a Textile Recycling Workshop in Santa Barbara. She continues to actively nurture and sustain the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) movement and policies within the Santa Barbara community as well as her involvement with the CPSC Associates meetings.
CPSC also wants to express gratitude to GreenWaste as the 2024 Sponsor of the year. GreenWaste provides waste management services to a large portion of Northern California and is a leader in carpet waste recycling. Not only do they engage in thoughtful waste and recycling collection, but they also seek new opportunities to provide more innovative resources to their communities. GreenWaste has previously partnered with CPSC to perform a textile audit and a textile sorting pilot, to find new potential avenues for collecting textile waste in California.