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Blue Box PROs

The 2026 reporting deadline was May 31, 2026. Failure to submit reports on time or submit false or misleading reports may be subject to compliance orders and administrative penalty orders.

Questions about the Blue Box Program?

We have answers! Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) here.

A producer responsibility organization (PRO) is a person retained by a producer to provide collection, management and administrative services to help producers meet their regulatory obligations under the Blue Box Regulation. Under the regulation, producers of Blue Box materials are responsible for meeting mandatory collection, management and promotion and education requirements for end-of-life packaging and products.

PROs can help producers meet their regulatory obligations by:

  • Arranging, establishing, or operating a collection or management system
  • Arranging, establishing, or operating promotion and education system
  • Preparing and submitting performance reports
  • Representing a producer for any purpose under the regulation

PROs operate in a competitive market, and producers can choose the PRO (or PROs) they want to work with. A producer must have a contract with a PRO to rely on the systems they have established to meet producer requirements (e.g., the Blue Box material collection system). The terms and conditions of each contract with a PRO may vary.

Note: A processor retained by a producer solely for the purposes of processing Blue Box material is not a PRO.

An obligated producer who chooses not to contract a PRO for these services must establish and operate their own collection, management and promotion and education systems. Learn more about producer obligations under the Blue Box Regulation here.

How do PROs operate?

PROs established and operate the common collection system which replaced the hundreds of individual municipal and First Nation Blue Box programs operating across Ontario. PROs share a System Access Agreement that sets out the administrative, operational, and procurement policies and practices by which the common collection system is operated. Circular Materials is the Administrator of this common collection system and can be contacted for more information.

PROs are also responsible for the establishment and operation of management systems to ensure that Blue Box materials collected through an established collection system are recycled and turned into recovered resources. These recovered resources can be counted towards meeting a producer’s management requirement.

To help producers meet their promotion and education requirements, PROs are responsible for informing residents in Ontario about the changes to the Blue Box program and how to correctly dispose of Blue Box materials when they are ready to discard them.

All collection, management and promotion and education systems must meet the requirements set out in the Blue Box Regulation. For more information, see the Blue Box producer webpage.

Signing up with a PRO

The following PROs are registered with RPRA and have producer clients.

Business nameWebsitePhone numberEmailRegistration number with RPRA
Circular Materialscircularmaterials.ca855-354-2772[email protected]00008951
EnvironFocus Inc.environfocus.com833-939-8435[email protected]00032750
Landbell Canada (Formerly H2 Compliance)landbellcanada.com437-445-2633[email protected]0001052
Ryse Solutions Ontario Inc.ryseinc.ca289-352-1200[email protected]00001002

Note: Producers can only work with companies that are registered as PROs with RPRA and are listed as such on RPRA’s website.

Important considerations about working with PROs:

  • Almost all producers will work with a PRO to meet their collection, management, promotion and education obligations.
  • Producers are not required to sign up with a PRO. The option to contract with a PRO is a business decision that will be determined by each individual producer. Producers can choose to meet their obligations without a PRO.
  • Producers can work with more than one PRO and can enter contracts at different times. For instance, a producer may have a different PRO for meeting their collection, management, promotion and education, and reporting requirements.
  • Collection, management and promotion and education requirements came into effect on July 1, 2023, when the first communities in Ontario transitioned to producer-run Blue Box collection services.

Upcoming important dates

RequirementDeadline
Register with RPRAWithin 30 days of being retained by a producer
Submit annual performance report
– report on your own collection and management activities in 2025.		May 31, 2026
Submit annual performance report(s)
– report on your producers’ collection and management activities in 2025*		May 31, 2026
Submit a performance audit report
– starting in 2027, and every three years thereafter, producers or PROs on their behalf will be required to submit an audit verifying their performance reporting**		May 31, 2027
Submit special 2027 reportAugust 31, 2027
*For 2026, PROs will submit an aggregate report on behalf of their producer clients.
**The first audit includes verification of 2024, 2025 and 2026 data. RPRA is consulting the procedure that sets out the requirements for performance reporting and audit.

FAQs about working with PROs

How to register as a PRO

PROs are required to register with RPRA within 30 days of being retained by a producer. To assist Blue Box producers in identifying the PROs they want to meet their collection and management requirements, PROs are encouraged to register with RPRA as soon as possible.

If you are interested in registering as a Blue Box PRO, contact our Compliance and Registry Team at 833-600-0530 or [email protected].