Frequently Asked Questions

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: General , Management activities , Producer

  Toggle the submenu How can I ensure that my products or packaging are collected and sent for management when I don’t know where they end up once a consumer discards them?

  Producers are not required to collect and manage their own branded products and materials. Instead, a producer is expected to collect and manage a portion of similar materials in Ontario. The portion of material that a producer collects and manages is known as their minimum management requirement. A minimum management requirement, which is set based on calculations outlined in the applicable Regulation, is the weight of the products or packaging that the producer must ensure is collected and managed. The calculated amount is proportionate to the weight of materials that producer supplied into the province.

  For example, a producer who supplied laptops into Ontario does not need to collect and manage their own branded laptops. Instead, they must ensure that they collect and manage an equivalent weight of information technology, telecommunications, and audio-visual equipment (ITT/AV) materials.

  Similarly, a producer who supplied cardboard boxes into Ontario does not need to collect and manage those exact cardboard boxes. Rather, they need to ensure that an equivalent weight of paper is collected and managed.

  Almost all producers will work with producer responsibility organizations (PROs) for the purposes of meeting their obligations to collect and manage materials. PROs establish collection and management systems across Ontario for different material types. A producer can meet their obligations to collect and manage materials by entering into a contract with a PRO to provide these services on their behalf.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu If we use a delivery company to mail our products or correspondence, who is required to report on the shipping packaging supplied to the consumer?

  Each Blue Box producer is required to report the Blue Box packaging they add to a product.

  For example: a college or university bookstore plans to ship a book to a consumer in Ontario. The bookstore staff packages the book in a small box with the packing slip and inserts the box into a plastic mailer supplied by the delivery service with the required label affixed.

  In this scenario, the college or university is the obligated producer of the small box and packing slip and must report these materials in their supply report, whereas the delivery company is the obligated producer of the plastic mailer and label and must report these materials in their supply report.

  Also see:
  Am I a producer of Blue Box product packaging?

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Producer

  Toggle the submenu Can Blue Box producers or PROs collect materials that are not marketed to consumers under the Blue Box regulation?

  Yes, a Blue Box producer or PRO (producer responsibility organization) on behalf of a producer, or a service provider on behalf of either party, can voluntarily choose to collect Blue Box materials that are not marketed to consumers.

  Blue Box materials not marketed to consumers cannot be counted towards meeting a producer’s collection or management requirements under the Blue Box Regulation.

  If Blue Box materials that are marketed to consumers are co-collected with Blue Box materials not marketed to consumers, a person must use a methodology or process acceptable to the Authority to account for materials supplied to a consumer or not. Anyone considering this can contact the Compliance Team to discuss at registry@rpra.ca or 833-600-0530.

  For example, if Blue Box materials supplied to a consumer in Ontario are collected along the same collection route as Blue Box materials that were not supplied to a consumer, they must be accounted for separately. When those materials are then sent to a processor, they must also be accounted for separately.

  See the FAQ: Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?

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• Program: Batteries , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: General , Producer

  Toggle the submenu Who is a consumer under the Batteries, Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Hazardous and Special Products, and Tires Regulations?

  Under the Batteries, EEE, HSP, and Tire Regulations, a consumer is any end user of a product. A consumer includes an individual who obtains the product for the individual’s own use and a business that obtains the product for the business’s own use.

  See our FAQ to understand “Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?”

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: General , Producer

  Toggle the submenu Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?

  Under the Blue Box Regulation, consumers are individuals who use a product and its packaging for personal, family or household purposes, or persons who use a beverage and its container for personal, family, household, or business purposes.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu Is transport packaging that is removed by a retail location and not supplied to the consumer obligated?

  No, transport packaging is only obligated when supplied to a consumer in Ontario. Any transport packaging removed by a retailer or other entity before the product is supplied to a consumer is not obligated under this regulation.

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

  Toggle the submenu Can businesses charge consumers an environmental fee?

  Businesses have the choice to recover the cost of recycling their products by incorporating those costs into the overall cost of their product (as they do with other costs, such as materials, labour, other regulatory compliance costs, etc.) or by charging it as a separate fee to consumers.

  Environmental fees are not mandatory and are applied at the discretion of the business charging them, including the amount of the fee.

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• Program: Batteries , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Tires

  Topic: Collection systems , First Nation communities , Municipalities

  Toggle the submenu Can a collection site operator charge a fee to consumers for dropping off their materials?

  No. Section 68 subsection (3) of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act states that “a person responsible for establishing and operating a collection system shall ensure that no charge is imposed at the time of the collection.”

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• Program: Hazardous and Special Products

  Topic: HSP , Producer , Registration , Registry

  Toggle the submenu 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 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. 

  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. 

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu 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?

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