Amendments to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016

The Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA) makes producers, including brand holders, importers, and retailers, responsible for operating and collecting blue box programs for paper, packaging, and single use items at end-of-life.

Due to higher-than-expected costs, Ontario is proposing changes to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act that would strengthen Ontario’s blue box program by improving transparency, cost disclosure, and collection of materials. The proposed changes would allow Ontario's producer responsibility framework to be more responsive to the needs of businesses and identify savings to help drive blue box costs down.

The proposed legislative amendments are summarized below, and the drafted amendments are provided.

Gathering information to assess system effectiveness and plan future changes

Stakeholders have asked for changes to the blue box regulation to ensure that it is sustainable and effective for years to come.

To make sure we understand the problems and make the right changes, the ministry needs more information on blue box system design, operation, and costs. Currently, much of this information is not available to government under the regulation. Addressing this information gap is critical to being able to assess the effectiveness of the regulation and propose amendments that drive cost containment while maintaining blue box services for residents.

The proposed amendments would allow the Minister to order the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority to gather specified information from specified parties.

The proposed amendments identify the types of documents, data, and information that could be requested by the Minister.

Any information submitted to comply with a Minister’s order would not be subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to ensure that any commercially sensitive information is kept confidential.

The intent is for the Minister to have the information necessary to assess the effectiveness of this Act and the regulations and consider the impact of potential reforms.

Increasing transparency on costs and system data

Producers have been asking for more information so that they can better compare quotes and make an informed decision when procuring a Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs). They are also looking for more information so that they can better understand invoices from their PRO and what they are paying for.

Without sufficient information it is difficult for producers to understand what factors contribute to their fees, oversee their service providers, and advocate for changes that could reduce costs.

To address transparency and cost disclosure, the proposed legislative amendments would enable regulations to require specified persons to provide specified information to RPRA, the public, or others that are party to an agreement under the Act.

The intent is to allow government to require PROs to provide more information to producers, such as on bills, invoices, or other documents, and require improved annual reporting on system design, operation, and costs to RPRA.

Maintaining collection for small businesses

The ministry has heard that some small businesses may lose recycling service as the transition to the blue box is completed in 2026.

These locations were not eligible for producer funding under the old cost-shared model. Municipalities paid for this service - and, for this reason, these small business locations were not included as eligible under the Blue Box Regulation. While PROs have continued small business collection during the transition period, at a municipality’s cost, PROs have decided to end small business collection once the blue box system has fully transitioned in 2026.

Municipalities have told us that arranging separate collection for these limited locations, when residential blue box trucks travel the same routes, is neither environmentally nor financially reasonable, and is not affordable for many communities.

To address small business collection, the proposed amendments would enable the government to make regulations that require PROs to make an offer to municipalities or other specified entities to service small businesses to municipalities or other specified persons.

Regulations would specify the circumstances, terms, conditions, and requirements related to the offer.

The intent is to maintain the current approach to small business collection, where municipalities and PROs negotiate commercial agreements to have blue box collection for small businesses, at municipal expense.

Concurrent regulation changes

The ministry is also consulting on proposed changes to the Blue Box Regulation under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 to help manage costs and ensure a stable and sustainable residential recycling system that focuses on maintaining current services. Please see the related links section regarding this proposal notice.