Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ filtered results:

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: Collection systems , Management activities , PRO , Producer
With the removal of the rule creation process and allocation table as the tools to create and maintain the Blue Box collection system, the amended regulation now requires producer responsibility organizations (PROs) to submit a report that outlines how they will operate the Blue Box collection system on behalf of producers, ensuring that materials are collected from all eligible communities (i.e., communities outside of the Far North) across the province.

Circular Materials Ontario and Ryse Solutions Ontario PROs submitted a Blue Box PRO initial report to RPRA on July 1, 2022, that provides the following information:

A description of how they will comply with the collection requirements of the regulation, including any agreements between themselves and any other PRO

A detailed description of how they will make collected Blue Box materials available for processing, how materials will be processed, and the expected location of receiving facilities in Ontario

A description of how they will comply with the promotion and education requirements of the regulation

You can read the news release and the initial report here.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Producer , Registration , Registry , Reporting

For the purpose of reporting annual supply data under the Blue Box Regulation, the weight of newspaper 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.

See our FAQs: “What is a newspaper?” and “Who is a newspaper producer?”
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Producer

A newspaper is a regularly (usually daily or weekly) printed document consisting of large, folded, stapled or unstapled, sheets of paper containing news reports, articles, photographs, and advertisements. Newspapers include broadsheet, tabloid, and free newspaper categories.

Newspapers have traditionally been published in print on low-grade paper known as newsprint. However, not all documents printed on newsprint are considered newspapers. For example, flyers printed on newsprint quality paper supplied separately from newspapers are not newspapers for the purpose of supply data reporting under the Blue Box Regulation.

For the purpose of supply reporting, newspapers include any supplemental advertisements and inserts that are provided with/inserted in them (e.g., a flyer or circular that is placed within the folds of a newspaper). Inserts may be composed of any material including, but not limited to, paper. See the FAQ: How do newspaper producers report their supply of newspapers?

Note that magazines are not considered newspapers; a magazine is a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject or area of interest, and printed on high-quality paper.
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: General , Producer

We encourage anybody who believes an entity is a free rider to contact RPRA’s Compliance and Registry Team at 1-833-600-0530 or by emailing registry@rpra.ca with information about that entity. RPRA reviews every free rider allegation that is referred to us.

We do not share information about our inspections or progress on specific free rider cases.

See our FAQ to understand “What is a free rider?” and “What is RPRA’s approach to free riders?”
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: About the Authority , General , Producer
RPRA takes a risk-based and proportional approach to compliance. This approach focuses on the potential risks that arise from non-compliance and assessing those risks to guide the use of compliance tools and the deployment of resources to minimize risk and maximize compliance. Learn more about RPRA’s Risk-Based Compliance Framework.

As a provincial regulator, we have the following powers to bring non-compliant parties into compliance:

Broad inquiry powers including authority to compel documents and data

Inspections and investigations

Audits

Compliance Orders and Administrative Penalty Orders (amounts to be set in regulation once finalized)

Prosecution

RPRA’s primary approach to compliance is through communications (C4C – Communicating for Compliance). RPRA communicates directly with obligated parties and informs them of their requirements and when and how they must be completed. A high degree of compliance is achieved with this approach.

RPRA considers free riders a high priority to the programs we administer and focuses compliance efforts on bringing free riders into compliance with the regulations.

See our FAQ to understand “What is a free rider?”, and “What do I do if I think a business is a free rider?”
Program: Batteries , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

Topic: General , PRO , Producer , Registration
Free riders are obligated parties that:

Have not registered or reported to RPRA

Have not established a collection and management system (if they are so required to), or;

Are not operating a collection and management system (if they are so required to).

See our FAQs to understand “What is RPRA’s approach to free riders?”, and “What do I do if I think a business is a free rider?”

To note:

Some producers only have requirements to register and report. Please refer to your specific program page on our website to understand producer obligations.

Collection and management systems may be accomplished by a producer responsibility organization (PRO) on behalf of a producer through contractual arrangements between the producer and PRO. If a PRO is managing a producer’s collection and management requirements, producers must identify that PRO to RPRA.
Program: Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products

Topic: Hauler , Processor , Producer , Registration , Reporting

RPRA considers an aerosol container to be a non-refillable receptacle that contains a product and a propellant under pressure, and that is fitted with a release device allowing the contents to be ejected as solid or liquid particles in suspension in a gas, or as a foam, paste, powder, liquid, or gas.
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Collection systems , Municipalities , PRO , Producer

A “Public space” means an outdoor area in a park, playground or beside/on a sidewalk, a public transit station or stop under municipal or provincial jurisdiction, including a track-level stop, to which the public is normally provided access.

During transition, producers are required to collect Blue Box material from public space receptacles in eligible communities that were provided collection service under the WDTA program.

The definition of a “public space” in the Blue Box Regulation is broader than the definition used in the Datacall for WDTA municipal funding purposes. For the purpose of collection services during transition, producers must collect from eligible communities’ public space receptacles collected as part of a communities’ Blue Box servicing that was funded under the WDTA Blue Box program (i.e., those along residential routes).
Program: Blue Box

Topic: Processor , Registration

No. If your business does not conduct resource recovery activities as its primary purpose, there is no requirement to register as a processor with the Authority.