Frequently Asked Questions

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

  Topic: Producer , Registration , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu Why is a registration and/or reporting deadline communicated by the Authority different than what is written in the regulation?

  As the Regulator responsible for enforcing regulations under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, the Registrar uses their discretion for when it is necessary to give registrants more time to collect the information needed for registration and/or reporting.

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

  Toggle the submenu Can I dispute an environmental fee that seems too high?

  If you are concerned about the fee you were charged, you should contact the business that charged you the fee to request a more detailed explanation of how the fee was determined.

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

  Toggle the submenu Is the environmental fee on my receipt a tax?

  No. An environmental fee is not a government tax and cannot be represented as mandatory, a regulatory charge, or a RPRA fee. It is a fee charged at the discretion of a business to recover their costs related to recycling the product.

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

  Toggle the submenu How much can be charged as an environmental fee?

  There is no set environmental fee for any product, the amount of the fee charged is decided by the business.

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

  Toggle the submenu What are the rules around charging an environmental fee?

  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.

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• Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Environmental Fees , Producer , Retailer

  Toggle the submenu Can businesses charge consumers an environmental fee?

  Businesses have the choice to recover the cost of recycling their products by incorporating those costs into the overall cost of their product (as they do with other costs, such as materials, labour, other regulatory compliance costs, etc.) or by charging it as a separate fee to consumers.

  Environmental fees are not mandatory and are applied at the discretion of the business charging them, including the amount of the fee.

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• Program: Batteries

  Topic: Collection systems , Producer , Registration

  Toggle the submenu As a battery producer who has registered, what other requirements do I need to meet?

  As of July 1, 2020, producers are required to establish and operate a collection system for batteries that meets the accessibility requirements in the regulation. Producers must ensure that all batteries collected are managed regardless of their minimum management requirements.

  For producers to meet their obligations, they have the choice of establishing and operating their own collection and management system or working with one or more producer responsibility organizations (PROs) that are registered with the Authority.

  Please contact the Compliance Team at 833-600-0530 or registry@rpra.ca to discuss other requirements under the Batteries Regulation.

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• Program: Batteries

  Topic: Producer , Registration

  Toggle the submenu How do I determine if I am an exempt battery producer?

  A battery producer qualifies for an exemption if its management requirement is less than 1.25 tonnes of rechargeable batteries or less than 2.5 tonnes of single-use batteries. A producer’s management requirement is calculated as a percentage of the weight of batteries supplied into Ontario in a specific period. This calculation changes each year, and therefore producers should verify whether they qualify for an exemption annually.

  For information about how to calculate your management requirement, refer to our FAQ, How are battery producer minimum management requirements determined?

  A producer who meets the weight exemption is not required to register or report, they must retain records related to the weight of single-use and rechargeable batteries they supplied into Ontario each year and provide them to the Authority on request.

  Producers who want to confirm their status as an exempt producer should contact the Compliance Team at registry@rpra.ca or 833-600-0530.

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• Program: Batteries

  Topic: Management activities , Producer

  Toggle the submenu What is battery supply data used for?

  Producer supply data is used to calculate their individual minimum management requirements under the Batteries Regulation.

  To learn how calculations are formulated, visit the FAQ How are battery producer minimum management requirements determined?

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• Program: Batteries

  Topic: Management activities , Producer

  Toggle the submenu How are battery producer’s minimum management requirements determined?

  A producer’s individual management requirements are determined by the following formulas found in section 13 of the Regulation:

  

  It is important to note that producer’s must ensure that all batteries collected are managed regardless of their minimum management requirement.

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