Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ filtered results:

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: 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 Box

Topic: 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.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: General , Producer

Under the Blue Box Regulation, consumers are individuals who use a product and its packaging for personal, family or household purposes, or persons who use a beverage and its container for personal, family, household, or business purposes.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Collection systems , Management activities , Producer , Registration , Reporting

Blue Box materials supplied to a business (e.g., the operators of a long-term care home) are not obligated, however, there are no deductions available for materials supplied to a consumer in an IC&I setting (e.g., a resident of a long-term care home).

Any Blue Box materials supplied to consumers in Ontario are obligated. Blue Box materials supplied to the IC&I sector are not obligated (except beverage containers which are obligated regardless of the sector supplied into).
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Collection systems , Management activities , Producer , Registration , Reporting

The brand holder is the obligated producer.

A marketplace facilitator only becomes obligated for products supplied through its marketplace where the producer would have been a retailer. If the producer is a brand holder or an importer, they remain the obligated producer even when products are distributed by a marketplace facilitator.

A retailer is a business that supplies products to consumers, whether online or at a physical location.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Producer , Registration , Reporting
See our FAQs to understand “What are paper products?” and “What are packaging-like products?”.

For paper products and packaging-like products, a person is considered a producer:

if they are the brand holder of the paper product or packaging-like product and are resident in Canada

if no resident brand holder, they are resident in Ontario and import the paper product or packaging-like product from outside of Ontario

if no resident importer, they are the retailer that supplied the paper product or packaging-like product directly to consumers in Ontario

if the retailer who would be the producer is a marketplace seller, the marketplace facilitator is the obligated producer

if the producer is a business that is a franchise, the franchisor is the obligated producer, if that franchisor has franchisees that are resident in Ontario
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Producer , Registration , Reporting
See our FAQ to understand “What is blue box product packaging?”.

Product packaging added to a product can be added at any stage of the production, distribution and supply of the product. A person adds packaging to a product if they:

make the packaging available for another person to add the packaging to the product

cause another person to add the packaging to a product

combine the product and the packaging

For the portion of the product packaging that a brand holder added to the product, a person is considered a producer:

if they are the brand holder of the product and are resident in Canada

if no resident brand holder, they are resident in Ontario and import the product from outside of Ontario

if no resident importer, they are the retailer that supplied the product directly to consumers in Ontario

if the retailer who would be the producer is a marketplace seller, the marketplace facilitator is the obligated producer

if the producer is a business that is a franchise, the franchisor is the obligated producer, if that franchisor has franchisees that are resident in Ontario

For the portion of the product packaging that an importer of the product into Ontario added to the product, a person is considered a producer:

if they are resident in Ontario and import the product from outside of Ontario

if no resident importer, they are the retailer that supplied the product directly to consumers in Ontario

if the retailer who would be the producer is a marketplace seller, the marketplace facilitator is the obligated producer

if the producer is a business that is a franchise, the franchisor is the obligated producer, if that franchisor has franchisees that are resident in Ontario

For any portion of the packaging that is not described above, the producer is the retailer who supplied the product to consumers in Ontario.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

Consumer protection laws in Ontario prohibits the misrepresentation of charges, which means that producers or retailers cannot misrepresent any visible fees as a regulatory charge, tax, RPRA fee or something similar. Consumers who have questions or concerns about a specific transaction or want to report a misrepresentation can contact the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery at 1-800-889-9768.

As of March 2023, the promotion and education requirements related to environmental fees have been removed from the Tires, Batteries, Electrical and Electronic Equipment, and Hazardous and Special Products regulations. No changes were made to the Blue Box Regulation as it never contained promotion and education requirements related to these fees.

RPRA’s compliance bulletin Charging Tire Fees to Consumers has since been revoked and RPRA has ceased its enforcement of promotion and education requirements for visible fees across all materials.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: About the Authority

Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) means that producers are responsible and accountable for collecting and managing their products and packaging after consumers have finished using them.

Under the regulation, producers are directly responsible and accountable for meeting mandatory collection and recycling requirements for end of life products. With IPR, producers have choice in how they meet their requirements. They can collect and recycle the products themselves, or contract with producer responsibility organizations (PROs) to help them meet their requirements.