Through Ontario’s legacy Blue Box Program operated by Stewardship Ontario, recyclable materials (paper, glass, plastic and aluminum) are collected from municipalities and First Nation communities across the province. Participating communities provide collection services and cover half of the cost of the program and businesses or “stewards” cover the other half.
The legacy Blue Box Program is currently in the process of transitioning to Ontario’s new producer responsibility regulatory framework. Under the new framework, outlined under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 and the associated Blue Box Regulation, producers will be responsible for 100% of the cost of the program, as well as operating it. To learn more about the new Blue Box Program, visit the New Blue Box Program Operated by Producers page.
The transition began on July 1, 2023, and the final group of communities will transition to the producer-run program on December 31, 2025, at which time the legacy program will end. To learn more about the transition and find key documents related to the transition, visit our Blue Box transition page.
Under the legacy program operated by Stewardship Ontario, RPRA was responsible for determining the total cost of the Blue Box Program and calculating the amount stewards were required to pay to municipalities for operating the program. These determinations were calculated using information submitted by participating communities into the annual Datacall. The Datacall ended in 2024. Visit our Datacall page to learn more and see historical data.
Under the legacy Blue Box Program, newspapers were able to contribute advertising linage to municipalities in lieu of cash funding through the InKind Advertising Program. The final allocation of InKind advertising will be available for participating municipalities to use from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. Visit the InKind Advertising page to learn more about the InKind Advertising Program.
The legacy Blue Box Program also funded the Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF), which was a partnership between the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the City of Toronto, Stewardship Ontario and RPRA with a mandate to undertake research and develop programs to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of municipal Blue Box programs. CIF ceased operations at the end of 2024. Visit our CIF page to learn more.