St. Louis, MO – The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance (TPSA) held its annual conference in February and presented the 2026 Program Excellence Award to the Ag Container Recycling Council (ACRC). Mark Hudson, Executive Director and Leigh O’Neill, Recycling End User Manager, accepted the award on behalf of ACRC. The award is presented in recognition of a program that has transformed agricultural stewardship. Setting standards for recycling, education, and industry collaboration, ACRC has fostered continuous improvement in sustainability and helped expand recycling access and compliance. This helps promote the mission of The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance.
ACRC implemented in 1992, this 1st in the nation industry stewardship program will celebrate its 34th year in 2026! The recycling of 268,000,000 lbs. of Ag Chemical containers has resulted in: saving of more than 1,333,000 cubic yards of landfill space; reduction of 104,300 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; energy savings equal to 34,840,000 gallons of gasoline; and, the equivalent of 78,400 households’ annual energy consumption.
ACRC and its staff are true stewards of US agriculture and exemplary members of TPSA.
The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance (TPSA), founded in 2000, is an organization of federal, state, and local governmental agencies, educational and research institutions, public organizations, private corporations, and individuals that are actively involved in various aspects of pesticide stewardship. The goals of TPSA are to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and longevity of various pesticide stewardship efforts.
The 2027 Pesticide Stewardship Conference is scheduled for February 2-4 in San Diego, California.