Frequently Asked Questions

A producer responsibility organization (PRO) is a person retained by a producer to provide collection, management and administrative services to help producers meet their regulatory obligations.

A prospective PRO is a person that has registered with RPRA but have not been identified by a producer in RPRA’s registry to carry out regulatory responsibilities.

More information on PROs

PRO responsibilities include:

• Arranging for the establishment or operation of collection or management systems
• Establishing or operating a collection or management system
• Preparing and submitting reports

In addition, under the Hazardous and Special Products regulation, a PRO includes a person retained by a producer for the purpose of:

• Implementing a promotion and education program

Only PROs that meet this definition will:

• Be listed on RPRA’s website as a PRO
• Be invited to attend all-PRO meetings with RPRA
• Receive system-wide compliance communications

More information on prospective PRO

RPRA will list all prospective PROs on its website for up to one year. After that period, prospective PROs that remain unassigned by a producer in the registry will be notified, removed from the website, and have their registry account deactivated.

RPRA will publish a list of producers who have not yet identified a PRO in the registry. This will help prospective PROs understand where opportunities may exist.

Free riders are obligated parties that:

• Have not registered or reported to RPRA
• Have not established a collection and management system (if they are so required to), or;
• Are not operating a collection and management system (if they are so required to).

See our FAQs to understand “What is RPRA’s approach to free riders?”, and “What do I do if I think a business is a free rider?”

To note:

• Some producers only have requirements to register and report. Please refer to your specific program page on our website to understand producer obligations.
• Collection and management systems may be accomplished by a producer responsibility organization (PRO) on behalf of a producer through contractual arrangements between the producer and PRO. If a PRO is managing a producer’s collection and management requirements, producers must identify that PRO to RPRA.

No, only producers are required to pay RPRA program fees.  The decision to make producers pay fees and cover RPRA’s costs was made to reflect the fact that the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA) is based on a producer responsibility framework. Although producers may hire service providers to help meet their obligations, the responsibility remains with the producer.

A producer responsibility organization (PRO) is a person retained by a producer for the purpose of carrying out one or more of the following producer regulatory responsibilities:

• Arranging for the establishment or operation of collection or management systems
• Establishing or operating a collection or management system
• Preparing and submitting reports

In addition, under the Hazardous and Special Products regulation, a PRO includes a person retained by a producer for the purpose of:

• Implementing a promotion and education program

PROs operate in a competitive market, and producers can choose the PRO (or PROs) they want to work with. The terms and conditions of each contract with a PRO may vary.

How do I find a PRO?

Here are the lists of registered PROs:

• Tire PROs
• Battery PROs
• ITT/AV PROs
• Lighting PROs
• Blue Box PROs
• Hazardous and Special Products PROs

These lists will continue to be updated as new PROs register with RPRA.

See our FAQ What is the difference between a PRO and a prospective PRO?

A producer can grant access to anyone they would like to authorize in their reporting (i.e. Registry) portal. Producer reporting must be done in the producer account and batch data transfers are not accepted.

Yes. PROs are private enterprises and charge for their services to producers.

Each commercial contract a producer enters with a PRO will have its own set of terms and conditions. It is up to the PRO and producer to determine the terms of their contractual agreement, including fees and payment schedule.

RPRA does not set the terms of the contractual arrangements between PROs and producers.

A brand supply list is a list of brands of obligated products that a producer supplies to consumers in Ontario. A producer must provide a brand supply list that makes up their supply data annually to RPRA. Each program has different requirements regarding how a producer must submit a brand supply list. For more information, consult the applicable programs’ walkthrough guide or contact RPRA’s Compliance and Registry Team at 1-833-600-0530 or by emailing [email protected].

No. Producers and PROs working on their behalf must operate the collection and management systems they have established as required by the Regulation even after their minimum management requirements are met.

RPRA does not vet PROs before listing them on the website. Any business that registers as a PRO will be listed. Producers should do their own due diligence when determining which PRO to work with.

If a producer or service provider needs to adjust the performance data reported to RPRA, they must contact the Compliance and Registry Team immediately by emailing [email protected]. 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 the Compliance and Registry team.

No, First Nation communities are not required to sign agreements with a PRO or PROs to have materials picked up.

Producers, or PROs on their behalf, are required to provide call-in collection services to pick up tires, electronics, lighting, batteries, and household hazardous and special products free of charge.

For details about minimum amounts required for pickup, timelines for pickup for communities both north and south of the Far North boundary, and contact information for PROs that offer call-in collection, visit our Recycling in First Nation Communities webpage.

Collection sites for batteries, electronics, household hazardous waste, lighting, and tires that are reported by producers, or PROs on their behalf, appear on the map.

Collection sites that are considered private (e.g. a recycling bin inside a business that is not accessible to the public) do not appear on the map.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

If your collection site isn’t part of a PRO’s collection network, it won’t appear on the Where to Recycle map. The map populates collection sites with data entered by producers or PROs on their behalf.

If you are working with a PRO and your site is not listed on the map, contact your PRO.

If you aren’t already working with a PRO and want to add your collection site to the map, you can find a list of PROs and their contact information on the applicable program page of RPRA’s website.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

The Manage PRO option will appear on the dashboard below your list of supply data reports when your supply data reporting is complete and if you have management requirements. If your supply data reporting is below the supply exemption threshold you will not have management requirements, and therefore not need to assign a PRO to assist with your obligations.

Also note that Account Admin are the only portal users that can manage your PRO’s responsibility, so this widget is not viewable to primary and secondary users.

Yes. Producers and service providers can enter into contractual agreements with multiple PROs.

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.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

The recycling locations that appear on the map are reported to RPRA by businesses that run the recycling systems in Ontario.

As of October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s new website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

This change supports RPRA’s mandate of making information about resource recovery and waste reduction in Ontario accessible to the public.

For convenience, there are links throughout this website directing users to the map on Ontario Recycles. Learn more about Ontario Recycles here.

No. A PRO cannot report on behalf of service providers. Only service providers can submit their own performance reports.

A collection site is required to:

• accept all used materials that are designated under the program the collection site operates under*,
• accept materials dropped off free of charge, and
• accept materials dropped off during regular business hours.

The amount and type of materials a collection site must accept varies by which program they operate under.

*More information on what materials must be accepted for each recycling program can be found here.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Collection site names are taken from Google Maps. If the name is wrong, request to change it through the map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing the correct name.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Only your PRO can update collection site addresses. Ask your PRO to remove the old address from their collection network and add the new address.

The Compliance Team is unable to make changes to the address of a site that has been reported.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Business hours are taken from Google Maps. If the information on Google Maps is incorrect, update your Google account information by following these steps. Note: there may be a delay between the time you update your information in Google and it showing on RPRA’s map.

If the information on Google Maps is correct and not showing on the Where to Recycle map, request to change it through the map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing the correct business hours.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Phone numbers are taken from Google Maps. If the information on Google Maps is incorrect, update your Google account information by following these steps. Note: there may be a delay between the time you update your information in Google and it showing on RPRA’s map.

If the information on Google Maps is correct and not showing on the Where to Recycle map, request to change it through the map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing the correct phone number.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Websites are taken from Google Maps. If the information on Google Maps is incorrect, update your Google account information by following these steps. Note: there may be a delay between the time you update your information in Google and it showing on RPRA’s map.

If the information on Google Maps is correct and not showing on the Where to Recycle map, request to change it through the map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing the correct website link.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Wrong materials showing

If your site doesn’t collect the material(s) listed on the map, you can submit a request to change it through the map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing which materials should be removed.

Materials not showing

If you collect more materials than what is listed on the map, contact your PRO and they’ll update your collection site information.

If you aren’t already working with a PRO for a specific material and want to add a material to your collection site, you can find a list of PROs and contact information on the applicable program page of RPRA’s website.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

First, contact your PRO to confirm if the collection site should be considered private or if it can be removed entirely from their collection system. If they confirm it can be removed from the system, ask them to deactivate it so it no longer appears on the map.

If you aren’t working with a PRO, request to remove your collection site through the Where to Recycle map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form asking to remove the collection site.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

A public collection site must be readily accessible to the public and accept designated used materials during regular business hours. Publicly accessible collection sites and events appear on the Where to Recycle map. Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

A private collection site (e.g. office or school that collects designated materials) does not need to be publicly accessible. Private collection sites do not appear on the map.

Read this related FAQ: What does it mean for a collection site to be readily accessible to the public?

To delete a duplicate collection site, submit a request through the Where to Recycle map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by asking to remove the duplicate collection site.

If the request is for multiple locations, contact the Compliance Team at [email protected] with the following information:

• the issue,
• name and address for each collection site, and
• your contact information.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

To update the type of collection site, submit a request through the Where to Recycle map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing the correct collection site type.

If the request is for multiple locations, contact the Compliance Team at [email protected] with the following information:

• the issue,
• name and address for each collection site, and
• your contact information.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Battery, electronics, lighting and tire collection sites must be operated during regular business hours throughout the calendar year.

Household hazardous waste collection sites may open seasonally. The Where to Recycle map should reflect the time of the year when the collection site operates.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.