Stewardship Ontario is a not-for-profit organization funded by the businesses that supply designated products, such as packaging and printed paper, to the Ontario market. In partnership with Ontario municipalities and First Nations communities, Stewardship Ontario was incorporated in 2003 and operated the province’s legacy Blue Box Program for recycling packaging and printed paper from 2004 through 2025. Between 2008 and 2021, Stewardship Ontario also operated the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program – also known as Orange Drop – for the recycling and safe disposal of specified hazardous or special wastes.
Stewardship Ontario Ceasing Operations
Stewardship Ontario will cease operations at the close of business on December 31, 2025. Effective January 1, 2026, all municipalities and First Nations communities that operated under the legacy program will have transitioned to the Ontario government’s new resource recovery framework – called extended producer responsibility (EPR) – in which the businesses that supply printed paper and packaging into the marketplace are fully responsible for financing and operating the collection and processing system for those designated materials.
Information on Ontario’s new Blue Box program for recycling printed paper and packaging and the regulator, the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA), can be found here.
Effective January 5, 2026:
- Inquiries about steward refunds for 2025 fees and remaining Municipal Funding and Allocation Model (MFAM) payments can be directed to Stewardship Ontario at: info@stewardshipontario.ca.
- All other inquires can be directed to RPRA at: registry@rpra.ca.
Blue Box Program Wind Up
In August 2019, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) directed Stewardship Ontario to wind up the existing Blue Box Program and develop a Transition Plan leading to producers becoming fully responsible for the funding and operation of residential recycling in the province. The underlying legislation for this evolution is the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, which eliminated the role Stewardship Ontario played, and the Waste Diversion Transition Act, which defines the transition process.
More information about Stewardship Ontario’s Transition Plan can be found here.
Remaining Municipal Funding and Allocation Model (MFAM) Payments
Municipalities and First Nations communities transitioning from the legacy Blue Box Program to the new framework at the end of 2025 will receive the payment for 2025 Q3 on December 31, 2025, and the payment for 2025 Q4 will be issued on March 31, 2026.
Inquiries about the remaining Municipal Funding and Allocation Model (MFAM) payments can be directed to Stewardship Ontario at: info@stewardshipontario.ca.
Municipal Household or Special Waste (MHSW) Wind Up
The Municipal Household or Special Waste (MHSW) Program ceased operations on September 30, 2021, and the Program was formally terminated on September 11, 2023.
More information about the wind up of the MHSW program can be found here and information about the new program can be found here.