Proposed Blue Box Regulation posted for comment

Published on: Oct 20, 2020 Go back to the Latest News Archive

The Government of Ontario has posted its proposed Blue Box Regulation under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016. To view the regulation, visit the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The new regulation will support the transition of Ontario’s Blue Box Program to a new framework for waste diversion and resource recovery that makes producers individually accountable and financially responsible for their products and packaging when consumers are finished using them. The proposed regulation outlines several requirements for producers, including:

  • Reporting on the amounts of Blue Box materials supplied and diverted each year
  • Establishing collection systems
  • Achieving management requirements for Blue Box materials, including meeting diversion targets
  • Educating consumers
  • Registering with and reporting to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority
  • Other requirements, including record keeping and third-party audits

Amendments to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 would be required to ensure the government has the authority to meet Ontario’s environmental policy objectives in the proposed regulation, including to:

  • give rule-making powers to the producers and/or their Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) – service providers that are expected to be established to provide resource recovery services to producers in a competitive market – that develop the common collection system so they can develop the system’s rules
  • hold both producers and their PROs accountable for collecting from Blue Box eligible sources, meeting service standards (e.g. for frequency of collection) and other obligations

The government is also proposing amendments to Ontario Regulation 101/94: Recycling and Composting of Municipal Waste, which would end municipal obligations to run Blue Box programs once their services have been transitioned to the new individual producer responsibility regulatory framework.

The government is seeking feedback on the proposed regulation and amendments from October 19 to December 3, 2020. To provide your feedback, visit the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The Authority is the regulator mandated by the Government of Ontario to enforce the requirements of the Blue Box Regulation when it takes effect.