Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ filtered results:
-
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.
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: 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.
- Contains a ready-to-drink beverage product,
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer
RPRA will accept a report that substantiates the total Blue Box material weight deductions based on the customer’s recorded response to “Will you eat in or take out?” for all locations. Reports must be retained either in electronic or paper format for five years and be provided upon request for verification by RPRA.
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: PRO , Producer , Reporting
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
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Collection systems , Municipalities , PRO , Producer , Registration , Registry
For most producers and for all municipalities, little has changed:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
Starting in 2022, producers are required to report their supply data annually to RPRA.
Each year, producers will need to provide the previous years’ supply data in each of the seven material categories – beverage container, glass material, flexible plastic, rigid plastic, metal material, paper material, and certified compostable products and packaging material – as well as any deductions.
See our FAQ to understand “What deductions are available to producers under the Blue Box Regulation?”
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Registration
Producers are required to provide the following information when registering with RPRA:
- Contact information
- PRO information (if a PRO has been retained at time of reporting), including what services they have retained a PRO for
- Their 2020 supply data in each of the seven material categories– beverage container, glass material, flexible plastic, metal material, paper material, and certified compostable products and packaging material – as well as any deductions.
Please note that this information must be submitted to RPRA directly.
See our FAQ to understand “What deductions are available to producers under the Blue Box Regulation?”
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Collection systems , Collector , Producer
Yes, there are several newly obligated packaging/products under the Blue Box Regulation, including:
- Unprinted paper
- Packaging-like products, such as aluminum foil, metal trays, wrapping paper, paper bags, cardboard boxes and envelopes
- Service accessories, such as straws, cutlery or plates that are supplied with a food or beverage product
- Durable products, such as CD cases, box board for board games/puzzles and power tool cases
Note: Another change is that beverage containers are obligated regardless of the sector they are supplied into (personal, family, household, or business purposes).
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Collection systems , General , PRO , Processor , Producer
The following are the types of Blue Box Materials obligated under the Blue Box Regulation:
- Blue box packaging (primary, transport, convenience, service accessories, ancillary elements)
- Paper products
- Packaging-like products
-
Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer
Under the Blue Box Regulation, there are three types of exemptions that apply to producers:
- Based on a producer’s gross annual revenue,
- based on the weight of Blue Box materials supplied into Ontario, and
- 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.