Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP)

Why Apply?

As generators of more than half the state's waste, businesses play a major role in helping local governments cut the amount of garbage going to landfills. That is why the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has presented more than 16,436 awards to date.

CalRecycle's Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) recognizes businesses that develop progressive and creative programs that reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills. To show the State's appreciation of their efforts, winners of the WRAP award are given a certificate, and winners become authorized to use the WRAP logo in their advertising and promotion.

To be considered for an award, businesses send in an application which asks for details about the business' waste reduction and recycling efforts. The applications are evaluated on a set of criteria developed in cooperation with the business community. While the State of California cannot explicitly endorse any business, the State can and does imply endorsements of business practices that reduce the generation of waste and enhance recycling. This endorsement takes the form of regional promotion through press releases to local media and can be used by the business to further its own marketing efforts.

How WRAP Winners Have Used Their Awards

• AT&T Yellow Pages, a multiyear winner, places the WRAP winner logo on the back cover of all California white and yellow page telephone directories. As a result, every household and business in California sees the WRAP award logo!
• Fender Musical Instruments Corp. in Corona--a WRAP winner for ten years--uses the WRAP winner logo on the cardboard packaging for its products, including the reissue of Fender's 1962 vintage Stratocaster electric guitar.
• Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake put the WRAP winner logo on its Steelhead Extra Pale Ale six-pack containers.
• Dole Fresh Vegetables in Salinas has printed the WRAP winner logo on its invoices.
• Nissan Motor Corporation of Gardena used its status as a WRAP winner on a ceramic coffee cup design.

The following WRAP winners have also used the winner logo in their newsletters and/or advertising:

• Amici's East Coast Pizzeria, Mountain View, CA
• APW Electronic Solutions, Poway, CA
• Bayer Corporation, Berkeley, CA
• J. A. Felix Computer Supplies, Vista, CA
• NEC Electronics, Roseville, CA

If your business is a WRAP winner, we would appreciate hearing about how you use the award to further your business interests, whether it's outreaching to an expanded customer base, or simply recognizing employees for a job well done internally.