BOARD MEMBERS

PRESS

STAFF

ANNUAL REPORT

FUNDERS

THE ORGANIZATION

The California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) is a powerful network of local governments, non-government organizations, businesses, and individuals supporting policies and projects where producers share in the responsibility for managing problem products at their end of life.

CPSC is California’s thought leader and expert on Product Stewardship and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) movement.

EPR enjoys the support of more than 26 million Californians. That’s nearly 70% of the state's population! Nearly 150 resolutions have been passed by California local jurisdictions and organizations supporting a more sustainable and toxic free environment through product stewardship. CPSC works closely with companies like Flame King who have redesigned products for reuse as well as those who have established pilot or permanent collection programs with some sharing of costs with others in the product chain.

In July 2015, the CPSC Board, current CPSC Executive Director (Doug Kobold), and others formed the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), a 501(c)(4). With CPSC’s legislative successes in California, increasing demands for CPSC’s assistance had come from all across the country, creating the need for an entity that could carry CPSC’s work forward, without lobbying limits, on a national scale.

Let us know how we can help your city or county take the first step towards adopting producer responsibility to promote safer, healthier families and communities!

CPSC Vision

Producers have the primary responsibility to establish, fund, and maximize material recovery systems to support a circular economy for their products with state government setting the performance goals and ensuring accountability and transparency.

CPSC Mission Statement

To shift California’s material economy from a linear model that subsidizes resource extraction, including ratepayer financed collection and disposal, towards a circular economy that relies upon producer-financed and managed recovery programs overseen by state agencies with all participants compensated for their contributions, while improving the health and well-being of all Californians.

CPSC will accomplish our mission by:

Providing greater support for waste prevention and materials recovery than comparable supports for raw materials or energy extraction;
Fostering separation of materials discards for safety and recovery; and
Keeping products in use longer through reuse, repair, and salvage.

From the Executive Director

Welcome to the CPSC website! Our goals are to educate you about producer responsibility, inspire you, and provide you with the tools to take action. Have a product related problem in your community? Let us know how we can help! Learn more about current sponsorship opportunities, or consider showing your support by contributing to CPSC so we can continue to work on the products that matter the most to you, your family, and your community.

With gratitude,
Doug Kobold

BOARD MEMBERS

CPSC is grateful to have a board that reflects both the diversity of our state's communities and diversity of industry stakeholders. Learn more about how CPSC, by design, ensures diversity on nearly every front.

Kristina Miller

Chair

City Manager

City of Corning

Corning, CA

Kristina's bio

Tedd Ward

Treasurer

Del Norte Solid Waste Mgt Authority

Crescent City, CA

Tedd's bio

Julia Au

Senior Outreach, Education, and Compliance Manager

RethinkWaste

San Carlos, CA

Julia's bio

Garen Kazanjian

Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Manager, Recology

San Francisco, CA

Garen's bio

Justin Lehrer

Senior Management Analyst

StopWaste

Oakland, CA

Justin's bio

Wes Nelson

Sales & Marketing Manager

GreenWaste Carpet Recycling

San Jose, CA

Wes' bio

Steve Rodowick

Paradise Recreation

& Parks District

Paradise, CA

Steve's bio

Colleen Foster

Vice Chair

Environmental Officer

Water Utilities Department

Oceanside, CA

Amy Hammes

Secretary

Recycling Specialist

City of Burbank

Burbank, CA

Amy's bio

Derek Crutchfield

Recycling Coordinator

City of Vallejo

Vallejo, CA

Derek's bio

Alexa Kielty

Zero Waste Specialist

SF Dept of Environment

San Francisco, CA

Alexa's bio

Manuel Medrano

Environmental Services Manager

Chula Vista, CA

Manuel's bio

Susanne Passantino

Market Director Government Affairs

Republic Services

Los Angeles, CA

Susannes' bio

Chris Sheppard

Senior Civil Engineer

County of LA

Dept. of Public Works

Los Angeles, CA

Chris' bio

STAFF

We are a diverse group of highly accomplished experts in our fields of practice. We are passionate about the work we do and the communities we serve.

Doug Kobold

Executive Director

Doug's bio

Connect on LinkedIn

Joanne Brasch, PhD

Special Projects Manager

Joanne's bio

Connect on LinkedIn

Nate Pelczar, MPA

Special Projects Manager

Nate's bio

Connect on LinkedIn

Kamryn Kubose, LEED GA

Associate

Kamryn's bio

Connect on LinkedIn

Yalin Li

Associate

Yalin's bio

Connect on LinkedIn

Virginia McCormick

Associate

Virginia's bio

Connect on LinkedIn

SPONSORS

Thank you to our sponsors and associates for supporting CPSC!

CPSC advocates on behalf of countless cities, towns, and other jurisdictions here in California. We are grateful for their financial support, along with various other sponsors, and all that they do to further our mission and vision for material management in California. Learn more about sponsoring CPSC here and click here to learn more about CPSC sponsorship levels.

Platinum Sponsors ($10,000 or more)

Gold Sponsors ($5,000 to $9,999)

Silver Sponsors ($2,500 to $4,999)

Bronze Sponsors

Bank & Vogue

Product Care Association of Canada

R3 Consulting

Regent Apparel

SGA Marketing

RRS Consulting

Textile Exchange

Green Sponsors

California Association of Recycling Market Development Zones

TDC Environmental

Business Waste Management Consulting

Green Cities of California

Reciprocal Benefits Sponsors

California Resource Recovery Association

ANNUAL REPORTS

2020-2021

2019-2020

2018-2019

AWARDS

Arrow Awards

Overview

The California Product Stewardship Council recognizes California businesses for outstanding leadership, innovation and partnerships in product stewardship and green design. The Arrow Awards recognize innovative product stewardship programs, outstanding partnerships in product stewardship and serve to inspire organizations to integrate the principles of product stewardship.

Learn more about current and previous awards!

Nominations for 2023 Arrow Awards will be accepted in Spring 2023.

Winners will be announced at CRRA’s 47th Annual Conference and Trade Show in 2023!

Eligibility

Any business entity (division or facility located in California), third party stewardship organizations and non‐profits are eligible to apply.

Award Recipient Benefits

A custom-designed award made of recycled materials by Bay Area artist Ellen Blakeley presented at an evening awards event attended by more than 700 local and state government representatives, state legislators and industry representatives.
Statewide media coverage
Organization’s profile on CPSC’s Arrow Awards web page for one year
Organization’s profile in CPSC’s electronic newsletter, distributed to more than 3,000 viewers
Organization’s video (if submitted) uploaded to CPSC’s YouTube Channel
Use of Arrow Awards medallion on organization’s public relations materials
Ongoing promotion and support from CPSC
A link from CPSC’s website to award recipients

Award Categories

Overall Excellence Award: The Golden Arrow Award for Overall Excellence in Product Stewardship

This award will be given to a company that demonstrates excellence in several aspects of product stewardship, including green design, toxics reduction, packaging reduction, increased reuse, repair, re-manufacture, convenient product take-back and end of life (EOL) management for one or more products.

Note: Do not apply for this award. The Golden Arrow Award winner will be selected by the review panel from the applicants of the categories below. If you wish to be considered for the Golden Arrow Award, then ensure your application speaks to all three individual categories.

Green Arrow Award for System and Design Innovations

This award will be given to a company that demonstrates an innovative product, package or system-approach that removes or reduces toxic or other problematic attributes present in other similar products. Examples: citrus cleaners that replace petroleum solvents; refillable packaging vs. one-way disposable; integrated (cradle-to-cradle) approach to providing a product, i.e., prepaid mailer to return product to manufacturer for reuse or recycling.

The Bow and Arrow Award for Coalition Building

This award will be given to a company or group that has excelled in building partnerships and demonstrating the inter-dependence between producers, distributors, retailers, public agencies and other stakeholders. The award may recognize a producer, a group of producers, an industry or trade association, or a stewardship organization that works with public agencies, retailers or other stakeholders to deal with EOL issues.

The Infinity Arrow Award for Service and Take-Back

This award will recognize a retail business, group of businesses, or chain that has initiated an outstanding Take Back program for one or more product as an additional convenience and service to their customers, and works with the producers of those products in developing safe storage and recovery of EOL products and packages.