Elementary and secondary schools (both public and private) that are licensed under the Education Act to deliver elementary and secondary curriculums are eligible to receive recycling collection under the producer-run Blue Box program.
Schools in eligible communities with child-care programs physically present on the premises, including integrated early learning centres, on-site daycare centres, and early childhood education centres must be provided with Blue Box recycling collection.
Under the producer responsibility framework, producers of Blue Box materials are responsible for ensuring that residences in eligible communities with curbside collection have a Blue Box receptacle. Examples of receptacles that must be provided to residents include bins, bags and carts.
The receptacle must be provided free of charge at least one week before producers begin collecting from the residence. Producers must deliver Blue Box receptacles to residents, or make them available for pickup if the resident prefers.
Blue Box receptacles must be appropriate for the residence, meaning they must meet the specific needs of the resident and must be equipped to follow local collection standards. For instance, some municipalities allow the use of carts whereas others use bags.
Supply reporting
Vehicle brand holders, importers and marketers are now obligated for antifreeze and/or oil filters that are supplied in new vehicles sold in Ontario.
Subsection 7(2) of the amended HSP Regulation states that these producers must report to RPRA the weights of antifreeze and/or oil filters that were supplied in new vehicles sold in Ontario in 2022, 2023 and 2024. This change to the producer hierarchy may impact supply reports previously submitted to RPRA. It may also require producers to submit a supply data verification report if they meet the definition of a large producer, based on the newly submitted supply data. Producers who need to submit adjusted supply data as a result of this change to the producer hierarchy should contact RPRA before July 31, 2025.
Although there may be adjustments to the historical supply data, the collection and management requirements for the 2025 calendar year remain unchanged.
Management requirements
Beginning January 1, 2026, these vehicle brand holders, importers and marketers of antifreeze and/or oil filters supplied in new vehicles will also be required to fulfill collection and management obligations, including reporting on their performance in meeting their obligations.
This includes ensuring there are sufficient collection sites in a community based on the size of the producer and that the HSP material is managed within 3 months of being collected. Specifically, oil filter producers must ensure that the weight of the recovered resources from managing oil filters in 2026, and every year thereafter, meets or exceeds their individual management requirement as calculated under subsection 31(3) of the HSP Regulation.
Impacts on producers of antifreeze and/or oil filters not supplied in new vehicles
The producer hierarchy for antifreeze and/or oil filters supplied in containers (i.e., not supplied in new vehicles) remains unchanged.
These producers may have reported tonnage for antifreeze and/or oil filters supplied in new vehicles as part of their supply reports in previous years and, if so, they should contact RPRA before July 31, 2025 to clarify their obligations and make changes to their supply data, as required.
Producers of HSP need to provide the following information when registering with RPRA:
Amendments to the Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) Regulation have changed the RER reporting requirements, depending on the material category:
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.
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 HSP | Average RER percentage |
|---|---|
| Antifreeze | 90 |
| Barometers, thermometers, thermostats | 90 |
| Oil containers | 95 |
| Paints and coatings | 75 |
| Solvents | 10 |
These materials do not have any RER requirements.
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:
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.
Producers of tires need to provide the following information when registering in RPRA’s Registry:
Yes, any tire type collected and managed within a collection system can be used to meet a producer’s management requirement.
Producers who supplied large tires have to ensure that large tires recovered equals at least 60 per cent of their average weight of supply.
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.
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.
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 HSP | Average weight of supply from the previous three calendar years (tonnes) |
|---|---|
| Oil Filters | 3.5 |
| Non-refillable pressurized containers | 3 |
| Antifreeze | 20 |
| Oil Containers | 2 |
| Paints and coatings | 10 |
| Pesticides | 1 |
| Refillable pressurized containers | 8 |
| Solvents | 3 |
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.
For more information and step by step instructions on how to submit a supply report, view our supply reporting guides here.
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.
“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 HSP | Large producer’s average weight of supply (tonnes) |
|---|---|
| Oil Filters | 100 or more |
| Non-refillable Pressurized Containers | 100 or more |
| Antifreeze | 300 or more |
| Oil Containers | 55 or more |
| Solvents | 70 or more |
| Paints and Coatings | 1,000 or more |
| Pesticides | 9 or more |
| Refillable Pressurized Containers | N/A |
| Mercury-containing Devices | |
| Fertilizers | |
| Propane Containers (refillable) |
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?
