Approved Transition Plan and Related Documents
- Approved Blue Box Program Transition Plan
- RPRA’s Transition Plan approval letter
- Blue Box Program Transition Plan Consultation Report
- 2021 Steward Fee Schedule
- Minister’s direction letters:
- August 15, 2019: Minister’s direction letter to Stewardship Ontario
- August 15, 2019: Minister’s direction letter to RPRA
- April 3, 2020: Minister’s direction letter to Stewardship Ontario granting transition plan submission request due to COVID-19
Communications & Updates
- August 12, 2019 – Advisor report outlines transition to full producer responsibility for Ontario’s Blue Box Program
- August 15, 2019 – Stewardship Ontario receives Minister’s direction letter to begin Blue Box transition
- November 19, 2019 – MECP hosting webinar on development of new Blue Box regulation
- March 3, 2020 – Register for Blue Box Program Windup Plan consultation webinars
- April 4, 2020 – Postponed: Blue Box Program Transition Plan consultation webinars
- April 9, 2020 – Minister grants extension for submitting Blue Box Program Transition Plan to RPRA
- May 19, 2020 – Blue Box Program Transition Plan Consultation Webinars Rescheduled
- May 27, 2020 – Reminder: Blue Box Program Transition Plan Consultations on June 16 and 17
- June 10, 2020 – Reminder: Blue Box Program Transition Plan Consultations on June 16 and 17
- June 15, 2020 – Reminder: Blue Box Program Transition Plan consultations this week
- June 17, 2020 – Blue Box Program Transition Plan consultation materials available
- October 1, 2020 – RPRA’s Consultation on the Blue Box Program Transition Plan
- December 23, 2020 – RPRA approves Transition Plan with Conditions that impact steward fees
- April 19, 2021 – RPRA approves revised Conflict of Interest Plan
- June 3, 2021 – Ontario issues final Blue Box Regulation
- September 3, 2021 – Blue Box: RPRA Registration and Reporting Reminder
Development of the Transition Plan
The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks directed Stewardship Ontario to wind up the Blue Box Program and develop a Transition Plan whereby producers will be made fully responsible for both the funding and operation of residential recycling in the province under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.
Stewardship Ontario consulted with stakeholders on its Blue Box Transition Plan proposals on June 16 and 17, 2020.
Consultation materials
- View the presentation
- View the questions and answers
- View the Material Cost Differentiation (MCD) consultation materials
- Stewards
- Municipalities, First Nations Communities and the Waste Management Industry
- Environmental Non-government Organizations
After approval from the Board of Directors, Stewardship Ontario submitted its proposed Transition Plan to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA).
RPRA consulted on the Transition Plan in October and November, 2020. More information on RPRA’s consultation is available here.
RPRA Approves Transition Plan with Conditions that Impact Steward Fees
The Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) has approved Stewardship Ontario’s Blue Box Program Transition Plan, subject to certain conditions, including the deferral of the Material Cost Differentiation (MCD) Methodology. Use of the Four-Step Fee Methodology was approved.
In the Transition Plan, Stewardship Ontario proposed to use MCD as a new input to fee-setting to provide better and more reliable data on the cost impacts of each material in the recycling system. Other Blue Box programs in Canada have already started the process of replacing the Activity Based Costing (ABC) Methodology with MCD and have set 2021 steward fees using the Four-Step Fee Methodology and a 50/50 blend of the MCD and ABC methodologies.
Stewardship Ontario took the same approach in its proposed Transition Plan. We presented the 2021 steward fee schedule at the Annual Steward Meeting (ASM) while highlighting that it was still subject to approval as part of RPRA’s review and consultation on the Transition Plan.
With RPRA’s condition to defer MCD, we had to recalculate 2021 fees using the Four-Step Fee Methodology and ABC Methodology alone, without MCD. We encourage you to review the new, approved 2021 steward fee schedule.
We understand that many of you will have already set your 2021 budgets based on the fees presented at the ASM, and we regret any inconvenience this change may have caused.
Stewardship Ontario will be reviewing RPRA’s reasons for the deferral of MCD and will be responding with a plan that aims to implement MCD in 2022.
Other conditions for RPRA’s approval of the Transition Plan relate to the following:
- The impact of adopting MCD on the in-kind amount paid to participating communities.
- Perceived competitive impacts of adopting MCD prior to transition.
- Scope of Stewardship Ontario’s Code of Conduct.
- Access to Stewardship Ontario’s data.
- Maintaining program performance.
- Updating the plan through the course of transition.
- Provision of information to RPRA.
We are reviewing these conditions and will update stakeholders following the completion of this review.
If you have any questions, please contact us at consultation@stewardshipontario.ca.