Frequently Asked Questions

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Management activities , Municipalities , Producer

  Toggle the submenu Do producers need to provide collection services to new facilities, including new multi-residential facilities, during the transition period? Is a municipality’s natural growth accommodated during the transition period?

  Producers are obligated to provide collection services to new facilities that come into existence during the transition period only if that facility would have qualified for collection services under the WDTA Blue Box Program.

  For further certainty, the WDTA Blue Box Program includes collection services for multi-family households (including rental, cooperative or condominium residential), senior citizen residences, long-term care facilities and public and private elementary and secondary schools.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Management activities , Municipalities , Producer

  Toggle the submenu Do producers need to provide collection services to new single-family residences during the transition period? Is a municipality’s natural growth accommodated during the transition period?

  Yes, producers are obligated to provide collection services to new single-family residences that come into existence during the transition period.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Municipalities , PRO , Producer , Registration , Registry

  Toggle the submenu As a producer or municipality, do the 2022 Blue Box Regulation amendments change anything for me?

  For most producers and for all municipalities, little has changed:

  1. Rule creators and the rule creation process, including the allocation table, have been removed. Instead, each producer is responsible for providing Blue Box collection to every eligible source in Ontario and creating a province-wide system for collection.
  2. Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) are now required to submit a report to RPRA on how they will operate the Blue Box system on behalf of producers.
  3. Newspaper producers whose newspaper supply accounts for more than 70% of their total Blue Box supply to consumers in Ontario are exempt from collection, management, and promotion and education requirements.

  The amendments do not change or impact:

  • Producer registration or 2020 supply data reporting to RPRA
  • Most producers’ 2021 supply data reporting to RPRA
  • The materials collected in the Blue Box system
  • The communities that receive collection or the collection requirements
  • The transition schedule and its timelines

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Municipalities , Producer

  Toggle the submenu What revenue should municipalities consider when determining whether or not they are an exempt producer?

  There is an exemption in the Blue Box Regulation for producers whose gross annual revenue generated from products and services in Ontario is less than $2 million. The following sources are excluded for the purpose of determining revenue:

  • Government tax revenue
  • Property taxes
  • General assistance funding received under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund
  • Payments in lieu of taxes
  • Canadian or Ontarian government grants available to municipalities with the intent of investing in public infrastructure

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: PRO , Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu What are certified compostable products and packaging?

  In the Blue Box Regulation, certified compostable products and packaging is defined as material that:

  • is only capable of being processed by composting, anaerobic digestion or other processes that result in decomposition by bacteria or other living organisms, and
  • is certified compostable by an international, national, or industry standard that is listed in this procedure.

  All certified compostable products and packaging reported by producers must be certified under one of the following standards:

  • CAN/BNQ 0017-088: Specifications for Compostable Plastics
  • ISO 17088: Specifications for compostable plastics
  • ASTM D6400: Standard Specification for Labeling of Plastics Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities
  • ASTM D6868: Standard Specification for Labeling of End Items that Incorporate Plastics and Polymers as Coatings or Additives with Paper and Other Substrates Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities
  • EN 13432: Requirements for packaging recoverable through composting and biodegradation – Test scheme and evaluation criteria for the final acceptance of packaging

   

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Municipalities , PRO , Producer

  Toggle the submenu What are Blue Box producers’ obligations for public space receptacle collection during transition?

  A “Public space” means an outdoor area in a park, playground or beside/on a sidewalk, a public transit station or stop under municipal or provincial jurisdiction, including a track-level stop, to which the public is normally provided access.

  During transition, producers are required to collect Blue Box material from public space receptacles in eligible communities that were provided collection service under the WDTA program.

  The definition of a “public space” in the Blue Box Regulation is broader than the definition used in the Datacall for WDTA municipal funding purposes. For the purpose of collection services during transition, producers must collect from eligible communities’ public space receptacles collected as part of a communities’ Blue Box servicing that was funded under the WDTA Blue Box program (i.e., those along residential routes).

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Producer

  Toggle the submenu Are there exemptions for Blue Box producers?

  Under the Blue Box Regulation, there are three types of exemptions that apply to producers:

  1. Based on a producer’s gross annual revenue,
  2. based on the weight of Blue Box materials supplied into Ontario, and
  3. for producers of newspaper

  1. Any producer whose gross annual Ontario revenue from products and services is less than $2,000,000 is exempt from all producer requirements under the regulation. In the case where the producer is a franchisor, it is the gross annual revenue of the system that is used to determine if an exemption applies.

  Any producer who meets the exemption must keep any records that demonstrate its gross annual Ontario revenue is less than $2,000,000 in a paper or electronic format that can be examined or accessed in Ontario for a period of five years from the date of creation.

  See our FAQs to understand what revenues municipalities and registered charities should consider when determining whether or not they are an exempt producer.

  2. A producer who is above the revenue-based exemption level may still be exempt from performance requirements (collection, management and promotion and education) if their supply weight is below the exemption levels outlined in the table below.

  

  If a producer’s annual revenue is more than $2,000,000 and supply weight in all material categories is less than the tonnage exemption threshold, the producer is required to register and report.

  If a producer’s annual revenue is more than $2,000,000 and supply weight in at least one material category is above the tonnage exemption threshold, the producer is required to meet all obligations (registration, reporting, collection, management, and promotion and education). However, producers are only required to meet their minimum management requirement in material categories where they are above the exemption level.

  3. As outlined in the amended Blue Box Regulation (released April 19, 2022), producers of newspapers may be exempt from collection, management, and promotion and education requirements. For the purposes of this exemption, “newspapers” includes newspapers and any protective wrapping and any supplemental advertisements and inserts that are provided along with the newspapers.

  For a producer to qualify for this exemption, newspapers must account for more than 70% of their total weight of Blue Box materials supplied to consumers in Ontario in a calendar year. If exempt, the producer is not required to meet collection, management, and promotion and education requirements for all Blue Box materials they supply in Ontario in the following two calendar years.

  A producer whose newspaper supply accounts for 70% or less of their total weight of Blue Box materials is subject to collection, management, and promotion and education requirements for all Blue Box materials they supply in Ontario.

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