2025 EVENTS
Thank you to the following jurisdictions / organizations that held collection events during 2025! The data from these events is currently being collected, and will be released in mid-December 2025. Information regarding next year's events is expected to be provided in Spring/Summer of 2026.
Northern California
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Del Norte County​
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Marin County​
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Alameda County​
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Santa Cruz County​
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West Contra Costa​
Southern California
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Port of San Diego​
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City of Oceanside​
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Port of Los Angeles​
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City of Santa Barbara​
In Collaboration With
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MAKE THE ELECTRONIC MARINE FLARE SWITCH
Through leadership, policy, and pilot programs, CPSC has been at the forefront of marine flare recovery projects and policy development in California. These projects expand circular systems with reduced-cost burden on local government and ratepayers through producer engagement and green design. Since 2019 CPSC has been working on marine flare pilot projects, starting with the HD 31 Huntington Beach grant. Following increasing success over the years, CPSC has conducted more marine flare collection events and handed out more reusable electronic marine flares than any other entity. We are eager to launch this necessary campaign, the first in the nation, so California can continue to lead in marine flare stewardship.
To protect California communities and environments, CPSC has partnered with multiple federal, state, and local jurisdictions. The collaborations with the California State Parks and Coastal Commission’s California Boating Clean & Green Program, and CalRecycle, alongside special district Delta Diablo, the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority, and the West Contra Costa County Integrated Waste Management Authority (RecycleMore), Alameda County, Marin County, the City of Morro Bay, the Port of San Diego, and the Port of Los Angeles, have allowed CPSC to further our educational efforts across California. Thanks to our combined endeavors, collection of expired marine flares and education on safe marine flare management, including the advantages of reusable electronic visual distress signal devices (eVDSDs), have never been higher. ​For more information, email: info@calpsc.org
WHAT ARE MARINE FLARES?
Marine flares are visual distress signals used to summon help on boats in the event of danger. They are required by the U.S. Coast Guard for boats operating on coastal water, the Great Lakes, territorial seas, and waters directly connected to them. The U.S. Coast Guard requires that boats always carry three visual distress signals. The flares must be approved for both day and night use or have three for day use and three for night use. The flares must not be expired and must be easily accessible.
THE PROBLEM
Single-use pyrotechnic marine flares expire and must be replaced approximately every 42 months. Due to their classification as hazardous waste, however, proper disposal of these flares is restricted and extremely expensive as they must be transported as explosives. To properly dispose of just one single-use pyrotechnic marine flare, it can cost anywhere from $10 - $350 per flare. It costs a local jurisdiction anywhere from $14,500 to $31,500 to host just one marine flare collection event, with the costs only rising each year. The high cost of dispose arises from the lack of facilities that will take in marine flares for disposal leading to high transportation costs. Currently, there are only three facilities in the entire country that accept marine flares, one in Missouri, Illinois, and Louisiana.
The difficulty in disposing of them means boaters often discard their flares in improper ways. Flares are often stored past expiration, tossed in regular garbage, or even thrown into our lakes, rivers, and oceans. Pyrotechnic marine flares contain many toxic chemicals, including perchlorate, that can leech into our drinking water and damage our environment when they are improperly thrown away. Currently in many counties in California, there are no safe disposal options for single-use marine flares. View the webinars and graphics below to learn how you can properly dispose of your single-use flares and get a free or discounted reusable alternative.
THE MARINE FLARE SOLUTION
In absence of permanent collection options, CPSC has partnered with special district Delta Diablo, the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority, the West Contra Costa County Integrated Waste Management Authority (RecycleMore), Alameda County, Marin County, the City of Morro Bay, the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of San Diego, CalRecycle, and California State Parks and Coastal Commission’s California Boating Clean & Green Program. The coalition behind these events urge residents to stay alert for future collection events and consider switching to reusable electronic visual distress signal devices (eVDSDs). These devices are not only reusable, but they are also safe to use, and approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Thus far, over 2 million pyrotechnic marine flares have been kept out of the environment due to increased use of eVDSDs. To learn more about eVDSDs from the vendor, watch the Sirius Signal eVDSD demonstration video at https://bit.ly/eVDSDdemo.
Follow us on social media @marineflareswitch and join the listserv to get updates about the 2025 collection events.
