Ontario blue box deadline approaching: What retailers need to know

The transition to the Ontario Blue Box program is quickly approaching and begins on July 1, 2023. Every obligated producer with a 2023 management requirement must do the following by July 1, 2023:

• Establish systems for the collection of Blue Box materials across Ontario;
• Ensure that all Blue Box materials collected through those systems are processed into recovered resources, and;
• Launch a promotion and education system that informs consumers about the collection of Blue Box materials.

In other words, to achieve compliance obligated producers must do one of the two following items before July 1, 2023:

• Enter into a commercial arrangement with a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) for the purposes of fulfilling the above obligations and then indicate through your RPRA Registry account that you’ve done so, or;
• Make their own arrangements for the collection and recycling of Blue Box materials in Ontario and notify RPRA by email to registry@rpra.ca of what arrangement they have made.

For more information, contact Kelsey Morden, Manager of Sustainability Programs at kmorden@retailcouncil.org.