Ontario’s final Blue Box Regulation makes producers fully accountable and financially responsible for their products and packaging once they reach their end-of-life and are disposed. (See CA’s June update on Ontario’s Blue Box program HERE). Importantly for CA members who are ‘producers’, you are required to register with Ontario’s Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) by October 1, 2021, confirming your company is a producer and the materials you supply into Ontario.
In order to meet your obligations under the Blue Box Regulations, you may choose to be represented by a Producer Responsibility Organizations (PRO) and enter into a representation agreement with them. Currently, there are two Producer Responsibility Organizations (PRO) that have registered with RPRA to provide producers with resource recovery services – Circular Materials and the Resource Recovery Alliance. While you are not obligated to to sign-up with a PRO immediately, producers who want to ensure that they are represented through the Blue Box “rule creation process” should have a representation agreement in place with a PRO by November 1 (the deadline for PRO’s to register with RPRA).
Members are encourage to review RPRA’s recent presentation entitled “Understanding Your Requirements as a Blue Box Producer” which can be found HERE.
Key information regarding “Producer Registration and Reporting” outlined in the presentation is as follows:
- Producers are required to register with RPRA by October 1, 2021
- Producers must provide the following when registering:
– Contact information
– PRO information, if a PRO has been retained at time of reporting, including what services the PRO has been retained for
– 2020 supply data in material categories, including deductions and any newly obligated material - Producers must submit this information to RPRA directly.
- Producers will also be required to pay their 2021 Registry fee when submitting their 2020 supply data.
- Registration and reporting will open once the 2021 Registry fees have been finalized. RPRA will notify potential producers (e.g., current Blue Box Program stewards) at that time, as well as provide further information about the registration and reporting process.
