Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ filtered results:

Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Excess Soil , Hazardous and Special Products , Hazardous Waste , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: Producer , Registration , Registry , Reporting , RPRA Program and Registry Fees
If you select cheque as your method of payment, follow these steps to complete your payment:

Make your cheque payable to “Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority”

Enter your Invoice Number on the memo line of the cheque

Please send your cheque to*:

Resource Productivity Recovery Authority

PO Box 46114, STN A

Toronto, ON

M5W 4K9

*As of January 20, 2023, the address for mailing cheques to RPRA has been revised. Please update your records and send cheques to the above address going forward.

Please note:

Registry invoices are considered due on receipt.

Invoices are in CAD funds and payments must be sent in CAD.

It may take 2-4 weeks for your payment to be reflected in your Registry account once you have mailed your cheque due to mail and cheque processing times.

If you have questions relating to fee payment, contact our Compliance and Registry Team at registry@rpra.ca or call 647-496-0530 or toll-free at 1-833-600-0530.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Excess Soil , Hazardous and Special Products , Hazardous Waste , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: Producer , Registration , Registry , Reporting , RPRA Program and Registry Fees
If you select bank withdrawal as your method of payment, this authorizes the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority to make a one-time withdrawal for the Registry invoice payment from the account you provided.

Bank Withdrawal – Important Terms:

You have authorized RPRA to make one-time debits from your account. RPRA will obtain your authorization before any additional one-time or sporadic withdrawal is debited from your account. You have agreed that this confirmation may be provided at least three (3) calendar days before the first payment is withdrawn from your account. You have waived any and all requirements for pre-notification of the account being debited.

Your payments are being made on behalf of a business.

Your agreement may be cancelled provided notice is received thirty (30) days before the next withdrawal. If any of the above details are incorrect, please contact us immediately at the contact information below. If the details are correct, you do not need to do anything further and your Pre-Authorized Debits (PAD) will be processed. You have certain recourse rights if any debit does not comply with these terms. For example, you have the right to receive a reimbursement for any PAD that is not authorized or is not consistent with this PAD Agreement. To obtain more information on your recourse rights, contact your financial institution or visit www.payments.ca.

Please note:

Registry invoices are considered due on receipt.

Invoices are in CAD funds and payments must be sent in CAD.

It may take 1-2 weeks for the involved banks to process your payment.

If you have questions relating to fee payment, contact our Compliance and Registry Team at registry@rpra.ca or call 647-496-0530 or toll-free at 1-833-600-0530.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Excess Soil , Hazardous and Special Products , Hazardous Waste , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: Producer , Registration , Registry , Reporting , RPRA Program and Registry Fees
If you select credit card as your method of payment, this method of payment is done through your Registry account.

Follow these steps to complete your payment:

When you are in the payment method section in the Registry, select credit card as your preferred method.

Input your credit card details.

Click submit and payment will process automatically.

Please note:

Registry invoices are considered due on receipt.

Invoices are in CAD funds and payments must be sent in CAD.

Once your transaction has been approved, your payment will be reflected in your Registry account immediately.

If you have questions relating to fee payment, contact our Compliance and Registry Team at registry@rpra.ca or call 647-496-0530 or toll-free at 1-833-600-0530.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Producer , Reporting
For the purposes of the Blue Box Regulation, a beverage container is a container that:

Contains a ready-to-drink beverage product,

“Ready-to-drink” means a beverage packaged by the manufacturer for immediate consumption that does not require any preparation. A ready-to-drink beverage is intended to be consumed as purchased and does not require a dispensing device to be consumed.

“Beverage” means a consumable liquid for enjoyment or hydration. It does not include an “alcoholic beverage”, or “non-alcoholic beer, wine or spirits” as defined in O. Reg. 391/21.

Is made from metal, glass, paper or rigid plastic, or any combination of these materials, and

If a beverage container is made only of flexible plastic, it would be obligated as a Blue Box material but would be reported under the material category “Flexible Plastic” rather than the “Beverage Container” material category. The Blue Box Regulation defines flexible plastic as unmoulded plastic. For more information on reporting of packaging and beverage containers that consist of multiple materials, please see the “Component Threshold Rule” in the Blue Box Verification and Audit Procedure Registry Procedure.

Is sealed by its manufacturer.

A cup provided to a consumer in a restaurant filled with fountain pop is not sealed by the manufacturer and is therefore not considered a beverage container. However, the cup (including the lid and straw) would still be obligated as a Blue Box material in the paper and/or plastic material categories.

For greater clarity, the Registrar does not consider the packaging from the following product types to be a beverage container:

Infant formula

Meal replacements, nutritional supplements or dietary supplements

Regulated health products

Concentrated beverages intended to be mixed or diluted before consumption, such as frozen juices, cocktail mixers, extracts and flavour enhancers

Liquids that are not intended to be consumed as purchased such as soup, syrups, cream and other beverage additives, whipping cream, buttermilk, broth

Beverage containers made of flexible plastics such as milk bags (these are still to be reported as flexible plastics)

Milk products and substitutes (e.g., soy beverage, almond beverage, a rigid plastic container of milk, drinkable yogurt) are beverage containers provided they are packaged in a container as defined above.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV

Topic: 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.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Producer

A newspaper is a regularly (usually daily or weekly) printed document consisting of large, folded, stapled or unstapled, sheets of paper containing news reports, articles, photographs, and advertisements. Newspapers include broadsheet, tabloid, and free newspaper categories.

Newspapers have traditionally been published in print on low-grade paper known as newsprint. However, not all documents printed on newsprint are considered newspapers. For example, flyers printed on newsprint quality paper supplied separately from newspapers are not newspapers for the purpose of supply data reporting under the Blue Box Regulation.

For the purpose of supply reporting, newspapers include any supplemental advertisements and inserts that are provided with/inserted in them (e.g., a flyer or circular that is placed within the folds of a newspaper). Inserts may be composed of any material including, but not limited to, paper. See the FAQ: How do newspaper producers report their supply of newspapers?

Note that magazines are not considered newspapers; a magazine is a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject or area of interest, and printed on high-quality paper.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: General , Producer

We encourage anybody who believes an entity is a free rider to contact RPRA’s Compliance and Registry Team at 1-833-600-0530 or by emailing registry@rpra.ca with information about that entity. RPRA reviews every free rider allegation that is referred to us.

We do not share information about our inspections or progress on specific free rider cases.

See our FAQ to understand “What is a free rider?” and “What is RPRA’s approach to free riders?”
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: General , PRO , Producer , Registration
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.
Program: Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products

Topic: Hauler , Processor , Producer , Registration , Reporting

RPRA considers an aerosol container to be a non-refillable receptacle that contains a product and a propellant under pressure, and that is fitted with a release device allowing the contents to be ejected as solid or liquid particles in suspension in a gas, or as a foam, paste, powder, liquid, or gas.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: Management activities , Producer , Registry , Reporting
If a producer misreports their supply data to RPRA, they must contact the Compliance and Registry Team immediately by emailing registry@rpra.ca. 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., sales documents, 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 to ensure a producer’s minimum management requirement is calculated using accurate supply data.

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 a Compliance and Registry Officer.