Frequently Asked Questions

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu What is a beverage container?

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

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• Program: Lighting

  Topic: Producer , Registration

  Toggle the submenu Am I a lighting producer?

  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: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV

  Topic: PRO , Producer , Registry , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu What is a brand supply list?

  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 Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Municipalities , PRO , Producer , Registration , Registry

  Toggle the submenu As a producer or municipality, do the 2022 Blue Box Regulation amendments change anything for me?

  For most producers and for all municipalities, little has changed:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Processor

  Toggle the submenu Am I a Blue Box processor?

  You are a Blue Box processor if you process Blue Box material that was supplied to a consumer in Ontario for the purposes of resource recovery.

  For the purpose of resource recovery, processing includes, and is not limited to:

  • Sorting
  • Baling
  • Paper and cardboard shredding
  • Plastic reprocessing, which includes grinding, washing, pelletizing, compounding, etc.
  • Crushed glass reprocessing
  • Aluminum and steel reprocessing

  See our FAQs to understand “Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation”.

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• Program: Hazardous and Special Products

  Topic: Producer

  Toggle the submenu Under the HSP regulation, what are the record keeping requirements?

  Producers of every type of HSP are required to keep records for a period of five years from the date of the record being created.

  Producers must keep records that relate to the following:

  • arranging for the establishment or operation of a collection or management system
  • establishing or operating a collection or management system
  • information required to be submitted to the Authority through the Registry
  • implementing a promotion and education program
  • weight of each type of HSP within each applicable category of HSP supplied to consumers in Ontario, regardless of whether information about the weight was required to be submitted to the Authority
  • any agreements that relate to the above records

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• Program: Hazardous and Special Products

  Topic: Producer , Promotion and Education

  Toggle the submenu As an HSP producer of mercury-containing barometers, thermometers or thermostats, what are my promotion and education requirements?

  Beginning October 1, 2021, producers or PROs acting on their behalf, of mercury-containing devices are required to establish and operate a promotion and education program that:

  • Promotes their collection and management services with respect to the type of HSP they are obligated for
  • Provides the following information on a website with respect to that type of HSP:
    • the presence of mercury in that type of HSP
    • how to distinguish that type of HSP from similar products that do not contain mercury
    • the hazards to human health and the environment related to mercury
    • how consumers can properly dispose of that type of HSP
    • a description of the collection services provided by the producer under this Regulation for that type of HSP
    • a description of how the producer manages that type of HSP after it is collected under this Regulation
  • Creates promotional and educational materials with respect to that type of HSP that include the following:
    • the address of the website
    • a description of how that type of HSP is collected and managed
  • The producer shall make the promotional and educational materials available to retailers that supply that type of HSP or similar products that do not contain mercury, municipal governments, and Indigenous communities, and shall solicit and consider feedback from those retailers, municipal governments and Indigenous communities on how the promotional and educational materials can be improved

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• Program: Hazardous and Special Products

  Topic: Producer , Promotion and Education

  Toggle the submenu As an HSP producer of fertilizers, what are my promotion and education requirements?

  Beginning October 1, 2021, producers are obligated to:

  • establish and operate a promotion and education program starting in 2022
  • provide information on their website about how consumers can use, share and properly dispose of fertilizer with local requirements
  • create promotional and education materials that include:
    • The website URL
    • A description of how consumers can use, share and properly dispose of fertilizer
  • solicit, consider feedback from, and make the promotional and education materials available to:
    • Indigenous communities
    • Municipal governments
    • Retailers that supply fertilizers
  • provide information to municipalities on innovative end-use options for fertilizers as an alternative to disposal

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• Program: Hazardous and Special Products

  Topic: Processor , Registration

  Toggle the submenu Am I an HSP processor?

  A processor is a person who processes, for the purpose of resource recovery, HSP used by consumers in Ontario

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• Program: Hazardous and Special Products

  Topic: Hauler , Registration

  Toggle the submenu Am I an HSP hauler?

  A hauler is a person who arranges for the transport of HSP that are used by consumers in Ontario and are destined for processing, reuse, refurbishing or disposal, but does not include a person who arranges for the transport of HSP initially generated by that person

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