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: ITT/AV , Lighting

  Topic: Producer , Registration

  Toggle the submenu If I am already registered with the Authority under a different Regulation, do I have to register again to comply with the EEE Regulation?

  Yes. You are still required to register with the Authority Registry even if you already have an existing account.

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• Program: ITT/AV , Lighting

  Topic: Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu As a producer, can other companies (e.g., retailers or distributors of my products) report my supply data to RPRA on my behalf?

  Yes. If you are a producer with retailers or distributors supplying your obligated EEE into Ontario, you can email us at registry@rpra.ca to discuss options on how to report your supply data. There are several options available, including an easy-to-use sales formula and weight conversion factors. See the EEE Verification and Audit procedure for more information.

  One option is to have your supply data reported by each of your retailers or distributors on a piecemeal basis. The piecemeal option requires that extra steps be undertaken by you and the Authority. You must contact the Authority in advance if you wish to pursue this option.

  Note that even if you have a retailer or distributor providing data on your behalf, it remains the producer’s obligation to ensure that all the required data gets reported and that it is reported accurately to the Authority in accordance with the EEE Regulation. The entry of inaccurate information by someone on your behalf is not a defense to non-compliance.

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

  Topic: About the Authority

  Toggle the submenu How will the Authority ensure my information is secure?

  In accordance with the legislation (Resource Recovery Circular Economy Act 2016, section 57), the Authority is required to comply with strict confidentiality requirements. The Authority has also developed an Access and Privacy Code that applies to its day-to-day operations.

  The Registry has been developed according to cybersecurity best practice principles. This includes VPN-based restrictions, staff training on all cybersecurity policies, staff access to the Registry on a strict role-requirement basis, and registry interface security features (example: two-factor authentication).

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

  Topic: About the Authority

  Toggle the submenu What will the Authority do with my information and will it be public? What data is released to the public and how will it be used internally?

  The Authority recognizes the commercially sensitive nature of the information that parties submit to the registry. The Authority is committed to protecting the commercially sensitive information and personal information it receives or creates in the course of conducting its regulatory functions. In recognition of this commitment, the Authority, in addition to the regulatory requirements of confidentiality set out in the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act 2016 (section 57), has created an Access and Privacy Code that applies to its day-to-day operations, including the regulatory functions that it carries out.

  Obligated material supply, collection, and resource recovery data will only be made public in aggregate form, to protect the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information.

  The Authority will publish the names and contact information of all registered businesses – producers, service providers (collectors, haulers, processors, etc.), and producer responsibility organizations. The public will also have access to a list or method to locate any obligated material collection sites, as this information becomes available.

  As part of its regulatory mandate, the Registrar will provide information to the public related to compliance and enforcement activities that have been undertaken.

  The information that is submitted to the Registry will be used by the Registrar to confirm compliance and to track overall collection and management system performance. It will also be used by the Authority to update its policies and procedures and by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for policy development.

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