Minister encourages collaborative approach to Blue Box rule creation process

The rule and allocation table creation process has been removed from the Blue Box Regulation and is therefore no longer required to create and maintain the system for collecting Blue Box materials across the province, as per regulatory amendments made by the government on April 14, 2022. Learn more about the amendments. 

The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issued a letter to all currently registered Blue Box producer responsibility organizations (PROs) encouraging a collaborative approach to the rule creation process, the next key phase in the transition of Ontario’s current Blue Box Program to the new producer responsibility framework. Read the letter.

All producers and their PROs will be assigned collection responsibilities through an allocation table, ensuring that Blue Box materials are collected from all eligible communities across the province. The rules that outline how the allocation table will be developed will be determined by rule creator PROs. Visit the Authority’s Blue Box PROs webpage for more information on the rule creation process, including a list of qualified rule creator PROs.

It is the Minister’s expectation that rule creator PROs will work collaboratively and actively consult other PROs, producers and the waste sector while developing the rules to ensure a system that works efficiently and effectively to increase waste diversion. If necessary, the Minister has the authority to step in and create or amend rules at any time, as outlined in the Blue Box Regulation.

The Minister also encourages rule creator PROs to continue to engage with the Authority during the rule creation process, and the Authority will keep the Minister and ministry staff informed of the progress being made.

As per the regulation, the earliest the rules can be submitted to the Authority is January 1, 2022, and the initial allocation table is to be submitted to the Authority no later than July 1, 2022.