Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ filtered results:
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Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AVTopic: PRO , Producer , Registry , Reporting
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 registry@rpra.ca.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Municipalities , Producer , Reporting
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.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
Public sector institutions must report all branded and unbranded Blue Box packaging supplied or sold with food served in their owned and operated on-site facilities. These facilities include but are not limited to cafeterias, pubs, cafes, and in the case of a college or university, faculty offices.
It is important to consider other situations where food service Blue Box packaging is supplied to consumers. For example, a college must report the packaging used in their Culinary and Hospitality programs that allow students to take home food prepared in class.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
Any public sector institution, including colleges and universities, that offers a self-serve hot drink machine for use by students and employees (i.e., consumers) must report all the Blue Box materials supplied with the machine to serve the hot drinks. This includes branded and unbranded single-use cups, lids, etc.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
Yes, producers are legally required to register and report to RPRA. There are some differences between which materials were reported to Stewardship Ontario as a steward and what must now be reported to RPRA as a producer. Differences include:
- newly obligated materials
- brand holder in Canada now obligated (rather than Ontario)
- producer must report total supply, and then report any weight to be deducted separately.
During transition years, stewards must meet their requirements (e.g., paying fees to Stewardship Ontario) under the Blue Box Program Plan and the WDTA. Producers also have requirements under the new Blue Box Regulation and the RRCEA, which includes registering, reporting, paying their program fee to RPRA and establishing collection, management and promotion and education systems for Blue Box materials.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer
Unbranded products are products that do not have any mark, word, name, symbol, design, device or graphical element, or any combination of these, including a registered or unregistered trademark, which identifies a product and distinguishes it from other products.
The retailer who supplied the product to a consumer in Ontario, either online or at a physical location, is the obligated producer for the supply of Blue Box packaging on that unbranded product.
For example: A cucumber in plastic film sold at a grocery store that does not have any stickers, labeling or any other information associated with a brand is considered unbranded. As the retailer for that unbranded product, the grocery store is the obligated producer for the packaging supplied with the cucumber.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
For the purpose of reporting supply data under the Blue Box Regulation, the weight of newspaper, including any protective wrapping and supplemental advertisements and inserts, must be reported in the appropriate material categories. For example, newsprint must be reported in the ‘paper’ category, while any protective plastic wrapping must be reported as ‘flexible plastic’.
Then, producers will be asked to indicate what percentage of their total Blue Box material supply was newspaper, including any protective wrapping and supplemental advertisements and inserts, in that calendar year.
When reporting either their total supply or the percentage of their total supply that is newspaper, a producer should only include the weight of Blue Box materials for which they are the producer. For example, if flyers for which there is a different brand holder resident in Canada are supplied along with a newspaper and those flyers have a different brand holder resident in Canada, their weight should not be reported by the newspaper producer. Instead, it is the brand holder of those flyers who would be required to include the weight of those flyers in their own supply report.
See our FAQ: “What is a newspaper?”
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
Yes, cheques are an obligated material and should be reported under the paper material category. If you have questions regarding how to determine whether you are the brand holder and are obligated to report the supply of cheques, please reach out to the Compliance & Registry team at registry@rpra.ca.
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Program: LightingTopic: Producer , Registration
A person is considered a lighting producer under the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) Regulation if they supply lighting into Ontario and:
- Are the brand holder for the lighting and have residency in Canada;
- If there is no resident brand holder, have residency in Ontario and import lighting from outside of Ontario;
- If there is no resident importer, have residency in Ontario and market directly to consumers in Ontario (e.g. online sales); or
- If there is no resident marketer, do not have residency in Ontario and market directly to consumers in Ontario (e.g., online sales).
Even if you do not meet the above definition, there may be circumstances where you qualify as a producer. Read the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulation for more detail or contact the Compliance and Registry Team for guidance at registry@rpra.ca or (647) 496-0530 or toll-free at (833) 600-0530.
See our FAQ to understand “What is lighting under the EEE Regulation?”, “Who is a brand holder?”
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Program: Hazardous and Special ProductsTopic: Producer , Registration
A person is considered a producer under the HSP Regulation if they supply oil filters, oil containers, antifreeze, solvents, paints and coatings, pesticides, fertilizers, pressurized containers or refillable propane containers and:
- are the brand holder and has residency in Canada
- import from outside Ontario and has residency in Ontario
- markets directly to consumers in Ontario (e.g., online sales) and has residency in Ontario
- markets directly to consumers and does not have residency in Ontario
A person is considered a producer under the HSP Regulation if they supply mercury-containing barometers, thermometers or thermostats and:
- are the brand holder and has residency in Canada
- are the Brand holder of barometers, thermometers or thermostats marketed to consumers in Ontario that do not contain mercury
A person is considered a producer under the HSP Regulation if they supply fertilizers and:
- are the brand holder and has residency in Canada
Even if you do not meet the above definitions, there may be circumstances where you qualify as a producer. Contact the Compliance Team at registry@rpra.ca or 833-600-0530 if you have questions.
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