Frequently Asked Questions

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

  Topic: Collection systems , Management activities , PRO

  Toggle the submenu What is a PRO?

  A producer responsibility organization (PRO) is a business established to contract with producers to provide collection, management, and administrative services to help producers meet their regulatory obligations under the Regulation, including:

  • Arranging the establishment or operation of collection and management systems (hauling, recycling, reuse, or refurbishment services)
  • Establishing or operating a collection or management system
  • Preparing and submitting reports

  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.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: PRO , Producer , Promotion and Education , Regulation

  Toggle the submenu Are Blue Box producers (or PROs on their behalf) required to provide printed promotion and education materials about Blue Box by mail to each eligible source (e.g., each Ontario household) at least once per year as of January 1, 2026?

  While the Blue Box Regulation states the requirement for Blue Box producers or PROs to deliver printed promotion and education materials 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.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: First Nation communities

  Toggle the submenu When will a First Nation that is registered in the Blue Box program start receiving service or funding?

  There are two steps that need to be completed for a First Nation to receive service or funding beginning on their requested transition date:

  • The PRO, Circular Materials, must submit the offer through the Registry for the First Nation to sign six months before the transition date.
  • The First Nation must sign the offer three months before the transition date.

  If these two steps are not completed by the required timelines, service or funding will begin three months after the offer is signed by the First Nation.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: First Nation communities

  Toggle the submenu What do I do if my First Nation wants to join the Blue Box program but is not listed on the transition schedule?

  If your First Nation is located south of the Far North and wants to join the Blue Box program, they first need to complete a registration form and submit it to registry@rpra.ca.

  First Nations that are not listed on the transition schedule and have registered to participate in the Blue Box program are eligible to receive Blue Box collection service or funding starting January 1, 2026 at the earliest.

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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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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems

  Toggle the submenu Our municipality’s Blue Box program accepts books, pots and pans, and/or zipper-type flexible plastic food storage bags for collection. Will they be accepted for collection in the producer-run Blue Box program?

  Under the WDTA Blue Box program, municipalities could choose to accept these materials in their programs. This choice varied between municipalities.

  Under the producer-run Blue Box program, none of these materials are considered obligated Blue Box materials. The Blue Box Regulation specifically states that hard or soft cover books or products made from flexible plastic that is ordinarily used for the containment, protection and or handling of food, such as cling wrap, sandwich bags or freezer bags are not Blue Box materials. Pots and pans do not meet the definition of Blue Box material under the Regulation.

  Producers are not obligated to collect or manage the recovery of these materials.

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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: Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu Our institution has implemented a source-separation program to capture and divert recyclable material from landfill. Why are we obligated to report to the RPRA when we’re already recycling our waste?

  Eligible Ontario institutions are obligated to manage their waste under several regulations, each of which imposes different obligations and requirements.

  Under the Ontario Environmental Protection Act, Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (IC&I) sector organizations have obligations to establish and operate an internal collection system that separates the waste generated on-site into different material categories (i.e., a source-separation program).

  The Blue Box Regulation, under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, obligates producers of Blue Box material to collect, manage, and report on the materials that they supply to consumers both on-site and off-site.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu We are a public sector institution and understand that we are a Blue Box producer. What information do we need to include in our supply report?

  Public sector institutions, such as colleges and universities, are suppliers of Blue Box materials to consumers in Ontario. They supply Blue Box materials to consumers on-site (e.g., food service packaging, unprinted paper in photocopiers, etc.) and off-site (e.g., mailings).

  For the purposes of supply reporting, colleges, universities, and other public sector institutions must determine the total amount of Blue Box material they supply to consumers in Ontario. One way to gather this data is by canvassing internal departments to obtain annual weights of Blue Box materials supplied to consumers on-site and off-site.

  Also see:
  FAQ: What deductions are available to producers under the Blue Box Regulation?
  Compliance Bulletin: What Blue Box materials need to be reported?

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