Marking its 17th year of recognizing environmental leadership, the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) announced the recipients of the 2026 Arrow Awards.
For nearly two decades, the Arrow Awards have spotlighted pioneering organizations that started with hyper-local initiatives and grew into global leaders. This year’s awardees build on that legacy, proving that strong community ties and local engagement are the foundation for scalable, real-world solutions.
“For 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.”
The 2026 Green Arrow Award for systems and design innovation was awarded to San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative. 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 “Plastic to Pavement” 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.
Tony Hackett is the winner of the 2026 Bow & Arrow Award for coalition building and creative partnerships. Bow & Arrow Award recipients demonstrate synergistic 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 Waste, represents Bow-and-Arrow principles through his advocacy for vape waste – an emerging hazardous waste stream. CPSC is proud to be a co-sponsor with Californians Against Waste and two other organizations for AB 762, a bill that aims to ban the sale of single use vaping devices.
The winner of the 2026 Infinity Arrow Award for service and take-back was awarded to Refill Mercantile. 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.
Project Ropa 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.
Published September 2026
