Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ filtered results:
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: First Nation communities
If your community is south of the Far North boundary, you can complete the registration form and email it to registry@rpra.ca to express your community’s interest in participating in the producer-run Blue Box program. A Compliance Officer will reach out to you to discuss the reporting and offer process, confirm the information provided in the registration form, and answer any questions you may have.
Communities in this situation are eligible to receive recycling collection services starting January 1, 2026.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: First Nation communities
There is no requirement for a First Nation community to formally change its transition date. If a community is not ready to report and/or participate in the offer process with the PROs by the initial transition date or the date outlined in the Transition Schedule, the community can indicate that to RPRA and we will work with you and the PROs to track when your community is ready to move forward in the process.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: First Nation communities
A First Nation’s transition date represents the earliest date that producers are required to provide the community with either Blue Box service or funding within the Blue Box program. Transition dates cannot be moved or changed.
A First Nation’s community name, reserve name(s) and transition date appearing on the transition schedule means it is an eligible community to receive Blue Box collection service or funding between July 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025. The transition schedule was amended for the last time on February 23, 2024. There will be no more additions to the transition schedule.
Related FAQs:
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Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , TiresTopic: Producer , Registration , Registry , Reporting , RPRA Program and Registry Fees
Producers are obligated parties under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act and are ultimately responsible for their data submitted through RPRA’s Registry. Producers can choose to contract with an external consultant to support their data submission, but third parties have limited permissions in the Registry as they are not regulated parties.
A producer can choose to assign a primary or secondary user profile in their Registry account to an external consultant. An external consultant may submit supply data reports and/or pay registry fees on the producer’s behalf.
External consultants cannot submit and/or sign registration, executive attestations, account admin changes or supply data adjustment documentation on behalf of a producer. External consultants cannot be account admins, nor can they manage a PRO within the Registry on behalf of a producer.
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Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , TiresTopic: Producer
No, where a producer is exempt, the regulatory obligations do not become the responsibility of the organization that is next in the producer hierarchy. The exempt producer remains the “producer” for those materials; they are just exempt from certain requirements under the regulation as set out in the relevant provisions providing for the exemption. This is the case in all RRCEA regulations.
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Producer , Reporting
For the purpose of reporting supply data under the Blue Box Regulation, the weight of newspaper, including any protective wrapping and supplemental advertisements and inserts, must be reported in the appropriate material categories. For example, newsprint must be reported in the ‘paper’ category, while any protective plastic wrapping must be reported as ‘flexible plastic’.
Then, producers will be asked to indicate what percentage of their total Blue Box material supply was newspaper, including any protective wrapping and supplemental advertisements and inserts, in that calendar year.
When reporting either their total supply or the percentage of their total supply that is newspaper, a producer should only include the weight of Blue Box materials for which they are the producer. For example, if flyers for which there is a different brand holder resident in Canada are supplied along with a newspaper and those flyers have a different brand holder resident in Canada, their weight should not be reported by the newspaper producer. Instead, it is the brand holder of those flyers who would be required to include the weight of those flyers in their own supply report.
See our FAQ: “What is a newspaper?”
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Collection systems , Producer
Yes, a Blue Box producer or PRO (producer responsibility organization) on behalf of a producer, or a service provider on behalf of either party, can voluntarily choose to collect Blue Box materials that are not marketed to consumers.
Blue Box materials not marketed to consumers cannot be counted towards meeting a producer’s collection or management requirements under the Blue Box Regulation.
If Blue Box materials that are marketed to consumers are co-collected with Blue Box materials not marketed to consumers, a person must use a methodology or process acceptable to the Authority to account for materials supplied to a consumer or not. Anyone considering this can contact the Compliance Team to discuss at registry@rpra.ca or 833-600-0530.
For example, if Blue Box materials supplied to a consumer in Ontario are collected along the same collection route as Blue Box materials that were not supplied to a consumer, they must be accounted for separately. When those materials are then sent to a processor, they must also be accounted for separately.
See the FAQ: Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?
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Program: Blue BoxTopic: Collection systems , Producer
Yes, a Blue Box producer, or PRO (producer responsibility organization) on behalf of a producer, or a service provider on behalf of either party, can choose to offer collection services to any location. Blue Box producers are required to provide collection services to all eligible sources, as well as public spaces.
Blue Box materials collected from locations that are not eligible sources cannot count towards meeting a producer’s management requirement unless they were supplied to a consumer in Ontario. See this FAQ: Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?
If a person is co-collecting from locations that are eligible sources and not eligible sources, a person must use a methodology or process acceptable to the Authority to account for materials collected from each type of source. Anyone considering this can contact the Compliance Team to discuss at registry@rpra.ca or 833-600-0530.
For example, if materials are collected from an eligible source and a location that is not an eligible source along the same collection route, they must be accounted for separately. When those materials are then sent to a processor, they must also be accounted for separately.
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Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , TiresTopic: Collection systems , Producer
Yes, a producer, a PRO (producer responsibility organization) on behalf of a producer, or a service provider on behalf of either party, can collect any product or material (including materials or products that are not designated under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA)). For example, a battery producer may choose to collect batteries that weigh over 5kg; a tire producer may choose to collect bicycle tires; or a Blue Box producer may choose to collect books.
Products or materials that are not designated under RRCEA regulations cannot be counted towards meeting a producer’s collection or management requirements under RRCEA.
If designated materials are co-collected with materials that are not designated, a person must use a methodology or process acceptable to the Authority to account for those materials. Anyone considering this can contact the Compliance Team to discuss at registry@rpra.ca or 833-600-0530.
For example, if bicycle tires are collected at the same time as automotive tires, they must be accounted for separately both when collected and when sent to a processor.
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Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , TiresTopic: Disposal facility , Hauler , PRO , Processor , Producer , Refurbisher , Registration , Reporting , Retreader
No. Effective February 6, 2023, RPRA will no longer accept requests for extensions to registration or reporting deadlines. Obligated parties should make every effort to ensure they meet all submission deadlines as part of their obligations under their associated regulation.
For more guidance, read the Late Registration or Report Submissions Compliance Bulletin.