Audience: Producer

What information is required for producers of HSP to register with RPRA?

Producers of HSP need to provide the following information when registering with RPRA:

  • Business information (e.g. business name, contact information)
  • The year you began marketing or selling HSP into Ontario
  • Any PROs you are contracted with
  • Your annual HSP Supply Report if you are a producer of
    • oil filters,
    • non-refillable pressurized containers,
    • oil containers,
    • antifreeze,
    • pesticides,
    • solvents, and
    • paints and coatings
  • Confirmation if gross annual revenue generated from all products and services in Ontario was above or below $2 million in the previous calendar year and list of supplied brands if you are a producer of:
    • mercury-containing barometers,
    • thermometers and thermostats,
    • fertilizers, and
    • refillable propane containers

As an HSP producer, can I work with a processor that doesn’t meet a specified recycling efficiency rate (RER)?

Amendments to the Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) Regulation have changed the RER reporting requirements, depending on the material category:

  • Category A (oil filters and non-refillable pressurized containers):

Effective for the 2025 calendar year, and every year thereafter, producers (or PROs on their behalf) are no longer required to use processors that meet specified RERs.

  • Category B: (antifreeze, oil containers, paints and coatings and solvents, but not pesticides) and Category C (barometers, thermometers and thermostats):

In 2027, producers (or PROs on their behalf) must use a processor who met, at a minimum, the average RER specified in the table below in the calendar year two years prior:

Type of HSPAverage RER percentage
Antifreeze90
Barometers, thermometers, thermostats90
Oil containers95
Paints and coatings75
Solvents10
  • Category D (fertilizers), Category E (refillable propane containers and refillable pressurized containers), and pesticides:

These materials do not have any RER requirements.

What do I do if I need to adjust my performance data?

If a producer or service provider needs to adjust the performance data reported to RPRA, they must contact the Compliance Team immediately by emailing registry@rpra.ca. Please include the following information in the email:

  • The rationale for the change in the data
  • Any data that supports the need for a correction (e.g., tonnage purchase or sale contract, audit)
  • Any other information to support the change

While it is an offence to submit false or misleading information under the RRCEA, RPRA wants this corrected as quickly as possible to ensure that it has accurate performance data from all registrants.

RPRA can only receive these requests from the primary contact on the company’s Registry account. Your request for an adjustment will be reviewed by a Compliance and Registry Officer.

Are Blue Box producers (or PROs on their behalf) required to provide printed promotion and education materials about Blue Box in English and French by mail to each eligible source (e.g., each Ontario household) at least once per year as of January 1, 2026?

While the Blue Box Regulation states the requirement for Blue Box producers or PROs to deliver printed promotion and education materials in English and French to eligible sources by mail at least once a year, many Ontario municipalities have stopped providing printed promotion and education materials to their residents in favour of electronic formats.

As long as Blue Box producers or Blue Box PROs continue to provide the same format of promotion and education materials as the Ontario municipality provided prior to the date the municipality transitioned under the Blue Box Regulation (i.e., print or electronic or both), RPRA will consider this as having satisfied the requirement in section 72(1) paragraph 2. The materials must be provided in both English and French.

If a municipality distributes documents on behalf of another brand holder, does the municipality include the weight of those documents in their annual supply report?

Where a municipality distributes documents on behalf of another brand holder, the municipality is not obligated to report the paper in its supply. That obligation falls to the brand holder.

For example: A municipality may distribute documents issued by the provincial government (such as marriage licences and court documents) which are usually branded with the provincial agency or ministerial logos and names. In these cases, the provincial government would be the brand holder responsible for reporting these materials in their annual supply data report.

Please see FAQ “Who is a brand holder?” for more information.

When and how do I register with RPRA as an HSP producer?

When to register as a producer 

Producers of oil filters and non-refillable pressurized containers, oil containers, antifreeze, pesticides, refillable pressurized containers, solvents, paints and coatings  

If the producer’s average weight of supply in 2018, 2019, 2020 was above the threshold in the table below, the producer was required to register with RPRA by November 30, 2021. Obligated producers who have not yet registered are out of compliance with the regulation and may face compliance action by RPRA. 

If a producer was not required to register in 2021, they must register on or before July 31 of the first calendar year that they exceed the threshold in the table below. 

Type of HSPAverage weight of supply from the previous three calendar years (tonnes)
Oil Filters3.5
Non-refillable pressurized containers3
Antifreeze20
Oil Containers2
Paints and coatings10
Pesticides1
Refillable pressurized containers8
Solvents3

For assistance in calculating your average weight of supply, contact RPRA’s Compliance Team at registry@rpra.ca.  

Producers of mercury-containing barometers, thermometers and thermostats, fertilizers and refillable propane containers

If a producer met the definition of an HSP producer in 2021, they were required to register with RPRA by November 31, 2021.

If you meet the definition of an HSP producer after November 31, 2021, you must register with RPRA within 30 days. 

How to register as a producer

  1. Go to RPRA’s Registry at https://registry.rpra.ca/s/login/?language=en_US 
    • Note: The Registry will not work with the Internet Explorer web browser. Google Chrome is the recommended web browser to use.
  2. Click “Don’t have an Account? Create a new Account”.
  3. Follow the prompts to fill out your account details. 
    • Information needed at time of registration: 
      • CRA business number, business name, address, contact information, and 
      • Name, contact information of the person who will be responsible for completing registration.
  4. You’ll receive an email with a link to create your password.
  5. Select the program you want to enroll in.
  6. Submit a supply report with the total weight of each type of HSP that was supplied to consumers in Ontario in the previous years. 

For more information and step by step instructions on how to submit a supply report, view our supply reporting guides here. 

As a producer, am I required to submit an annual supply data verification report?

Beginning in 2024, only large producers are required to submit a Supply Data Verification Report. Small producers will no longer be required to submit a verification report but will be subject to inspections. Review the Hazardous and Special Products Registry Procedure – Verification and Audit Procedure for more information.

For the purposes of HSP supply reporting verification:

“Large HSP producer” means an HSP producer whose average supply in the previous calendar year meets the large producer threshold outlined in the chart below:

Type of HSPLarge producer’s average weight of supply (tonnes)
Oil Filters100 or more
Non-refillable Pressurized Containers100 or more
Antifreeze300 or more
Oil Containers55 or more
Solvents70 or more
Paints and Coatings1,000 or more
Pesticides9 or more
Refillable Pressurized ContainersN/A
Mercury-containing Devices
Fertilizers
Propane Containers (refillable)

Our company supplies its products in refillable packaging. How should we report these containers in our Supply Report?

For the purposes of supply data reporting, ‘refillable packaging’ is defined as packaging surrounding a supplied product that a consumer can return to the product manufacturer for cleaning and reuse.

A producer who supplies its products in refillable packaging should only report weights (under the appropriate material category) the first time the packaging is supplied to consumers.

For example:

A milk producer that used 1000 new glass bottles to supply its product to consumers in 2022, reported the weight of all 1000 bottles under the beverage container category in their 2023 supply data report.

In 2023, the producer added 500 new glass bottles to its supply, bringing the total of supplied material to 1500 bottles. Their 2024 supply data report should only reflect the weights of the 500 new bottles, not the total currently being used by the producer (1500).

Important: Products supplied in beverage containers should be reported in the ‘beverage container’ category, not the category the container is made of (plastic, metal, glass).

See Compliance Bulletin: What blue box materials need to be reported?

What is the purpose of RPRA’s Where to Recycle map?

RPRA’s Where to Recycle map displays locations across Ontario where the public can drop off used materials to be recycled, such as batteries, electronics, household hazardous waste (e.g., paint, antifreeze, pesticides), lighting and tires, for free. Materials collected at these locations are reused, refurbished, recycled, or properly disposed of to help keep them out of landfill, recover valuable resources and protect our environment. Learn more here.

Where does the data on the Where to Recycle map come from?

The recycling locations that appear on the map are reported to RPRA by PROs (or producers managing their own collection networks) as the administrators of the collection systems. The public collection activities that PROs report in their registry account are uploaded to the map in near real-time.