Amendments to four producer responsibility regulations for tires, batteries, electrical and electronic equipment, and hazardous and special products

Ontario’s producer responsibility framework ensures that producers of specified materials are accountable for the environmental impact and financial costs of the waste generated by their products in Ontario.

Ontario is proposing changes to the following four producer responsibility regulations under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA):

• the Tires Regulation (O. Reg. 225/18)
• the Batteries Regulation (O. Reg. 30/20)
• the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) Regulation (O. Reg. 522/20)
• the Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) Regulation (O. Reg. 449/21)

The proposed changes to Ontario's producer responsibility framework aim to increase flexibility, reduce administrative burden, and simplify compliance requirements for producers of specified materials. These adjustments are not expected to impact the intended outcomes of the regulations, which are to reduce and divert waste.

The proposed regulatory changes are summarized in this section. Further details are provided in the plain language description of proposed regulatory amendments that accompanies this notice.

Some of the proposed changes address common issues among regulations related to collection networks and burden reduction and are presented together under ‘Collection’ and ‘Burden Reduction’ headings. These changes may affect a single regulation or more than one regulation. Other proposed changes affect only one regulation and are categorized as ‘Regulation-specific Changes’.

Collection

The following amendments aim to increase flexibility for producers in meeting their collection network requirements while still ensuring that Ontarians have access to a convenient collection network:

• Add geographic offsetting – allow producers to offset a limited number of required sites in a given municipality by establishing and operating collection sites in an adjacent local municipality under the Tires, Batteries, EEE and HSP Regulations.
• Add or increase collection events – allow producers to replace more traditional collection sites with collection events than is currently allowed under the Tires, EEE, and HSP Regulations.
• Allow all municipal collection sites to count as permanent sites – allow producers to use all municipal collection sites to count as permanent sites, even those that are open on a seasonal basis or for limited days per week under the Tires, Batteries, EEE and HSP Regulations.
• Adjust timeline for new census data – permit producers a sufficient period of time (for example, one or two years) after population data is updated to adjust the number of collection sites they are required to establish and operate under the Tires, Batteries, EEE and HSP Regulations.
• Align population density provision across all regulations – adjust the population-based formula in the Tires Regulation to reflect higher population densities in large municipalities. This adjustment would ensure the number of required collection sites in these communities accurately reflects their higher population densities, aligning with provisions already established in the Batteries, EEE, and HSP Regulations.
• Align “take-back” provisions – allow producers under the HSP Regulation who offer closed-loop collection services to consumers to replace or reduce the number of required collection sites. This would align with options in other producer responsibility regulations.
• Give new option for HSP producers to meet collection requirements based on the existing municipal collection network – allow producers of pesticides, solvents, non-refillable pressurized containers, and automotive HSP to choose between two compliance options under the HSP Regulation:
  • Establish and operate a collection network based on the size of municipal populations.
  • Establish and operate the same number of collection sites and events that were operated by municipalities in the previous year.
• Add new performance requirement for large producers of automotive HSP when creating alternative collection networks – require these producers to demonstrate the alternative network can achieve results at least as good as the population-based collection network under the HSP Regulation.

Burden reduction

We are proposing the following amendments to reduce administrative burden for producers in meeting their obligations under producer responsibility regulations:

• Remove recycling efficiency rate (RER) requirements – remove RER requirements for materials with management targets under the Batteries, EEE and HSP Regulations. For HSP materials without targets, require PROs/producers to manage collected material at a rate equivalent to the existing RER.
• Adjust small producer exemptions – change the basis for calculating small producer exemptions from collection or management requirements to supply tonnage under the Tires, Batteries and EEE Regulations.
• Revise collection site record keeping – remove the requirement for certain collection sites to keep records related to large amounts of material brought to sites under the Tires, Batteries, EEE and HSP Regulations.
• Remove registration and reporting for tire collectors – remove registration and reporting requirements specified in the Tires Regulation.
• Reduce tire hauler reporting – reduce reporting requirements for tire haulers to only cover two specified tire types.

Regulation-specific Changes

Proposed changes to the Tires Regulation

We are proposing the following amendments to reduce burden for tire producers and to align the Tires Regulation with the other producer responsibility regulations:

• Adjust performance target – remove the current collection target and introduce a revised management target based on producers’ historic supply starting in 2025.
• Increase threshold for regulated tires – raise weight threshold for regulated tires from one kilogram to five kilograms. This means that small tires would not be included in a producer’s supply reporting; however, producers would still be required to ensure that these tires are managed appropriately when collected.

Proposed changes to the Batteries Regulation

We are proposing the following amendment to provide battery producers with additional time to achieve management targets:

• Extend management target – push back the increase of the management target for primary and rechargeable batteries to 50 per cent by five years, from 2025 to 2030.

Proposed changes to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) Regulation

We are proposing the following amendments to reduce burden for producers and simplify the regulation:

• Change requirements for ITT/AV replacement parts – remove reporting requirements for replacement parts from information technology, telecommunications, and audiovisual (ITT/AV) equipment so they are not included in a producer’s supply reporting; however, producers would still be required to ensure that these materials are managed appropriately when collected.
• Revise allowable reuse – remove the option for producers to count two times the actual weight of EEE managed by an Ontario-based refurbisher for meeting a producer’s management requirement. Instead, producers would report only the actual weight of EEE reused or refurbished in Ontario.
• Remove waste reduction incentives – remove the provision that allows producers to reduce their obligated supply tonnage based on the amount of recycled content, extended warranties, and repair incentives offered. This revision would remove the complexity of calculating reductions and would simplify reporting.
• Extend management target – push back the increase of the management target for ITT/AV equipment to 70 per cent by five years, from 2025 to 2030.
• Consult on expanding types of regulated EEE – seek initial feedback on expanding collection and management obligations to include additional types of EEE to mitigate fire hazard potential posed by batteries in those products.

Proposed changes to the Hazardous and Special Products (HSP) Regulation

We are proposing the following amendments to reduce burden for producers and simplify the regulation:

• Revise producer hierarchy for antifreeze and oil filters – brand holders, importers and marketers of new vehicles would become the obligated producers for the collection and management of antifreeze and oil filters that are supplied in new vehicles.
• Revise requirements for refillable pressurized containers – reclassify refillable pressurized containers from category B to category E, which would align them with refillable propane containers.

In addition to reducing burden for producers of tires, batteries, EEE and HSP, some of the proposed amendments would also reduce burden for the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, which is responsible for overseeing Ontario’s producer responsibility framework.