Frequently Asked Questions

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Producer

  Toggle the submenu Who is a marketplace facilitator under the Blue Box Regulation?

  A marketplace facilitator is a person who contracts with a marketplace seller to facilitate the supply of the marketplace seller’s products by:

  • Owning or operating an online consumer-facing marketplace or forum in which the marketplace seller’s products are listed or advertised for supply and where offer and acceptance are communicated between a marketplace seller and a buyer (e.g., a website), and
  • Providing for the physical distribution of a marketplace seller’s products to the consumer (e.g., storage, preparation, shipping of products).

  Under the Blue Box Regulation, if a retailer (online or at a physical location) is determined to be the producer based on hierarchies, but they are a marketplace seller, the marketplace facilitator is the obligated producer. A marketplace seller is a person who contracts with a marketplace facilitator to supply its products.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: General , Producer

  Toggle the submenu Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?

  Under the Blue Box Regulation, consumers are individuals who use a product and its packaging for personal, family or household purposes, or persons who use a beverage and its container for personal, family, household, or business purposes.

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• Program: Blue Box

  Topic: Collection systems , Producer , Reporting

  Toggle the submenu Is transport packaging that is removed by a retail location and not supplied to the consumer obligated?

  No, transport packaging is only obligated when supplied to a consumer in Ontario. Any transport packaging removed by a retailer or other entity before the product is supplied to a consumer is not obligated under this regulation.

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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 , Blue Box , Hazardous and Special Products , ITT/AV , Lighting , Tires

  Topic: Collector , Hauler , Processor , Producer , Reporting , Retreader

  Toggle the submenu Why is there an executive attestation requirement?

  Brand holders and producers that supply products and packaging are required by legislation to meet individual mandatory collection and resource recovery requirements and may face compliance and enforcement consequences for failing to do so. The executive attestation ensures that executives responsible for managing the brand holder’s or producer’s business are aware of these requirements and can ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to achieve compliance with the regulations.

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

  Topic: Producer , Registration

  Toggle the submenu What information do I need to create a Registry account?

  To create a Registry account with the Authority, you will need to provide:

  • CRA Business Number (BN)
  • Legal Business Name
  • Business address and phone number
  • Address of where you work (if different from the main office)
  • Contact information for your billing contact (this may also be added later)

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