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
Simplified Fees - Transition Plan Addendum and Related Documents
- Blue Box Simplified Fees Approved
- Blue Box Simplified Fees Conditional Approval and Consultation
- RPRA Approval of the Revised Fee Setting Methodology Addendum to the Blue Box Program Wind Up Plan approval letter
- Blue Box Program Transition Plan Revised Fee Setting Methodology for 2023-2025 Addendum
- Adjusted Rules for Simplified Fee Setting (final version)
- Policy for Simplified Fee Setting (final version)
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
- December 1, 2021 – Stewardship Ontario Simplified Fee Setting Proposal
- December 7, 2021 – Survey and Webinar: Proposed Simplified Fee Setting for 2023-2025
- January 11, 2022 – Survey Reminder and Webinar Q&A – Proposed Simplified Approach to Fee Setting
- January 24, 2022 – Stewardship Ontario Submits Recommendation to RPRA to Proceed with Simplified Approach to Blue Box Fee Setting
- March 2, 2022 – Blue Box Simplified Fees Conditionally Approved by RPRA
- March 4, 2022 – Consultation on Blue Box Rules and New Policy for 2022
- May 5, 2022 – Blue Box Simplified Fees Approved May 2022
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.
Blue Box Simplified Fees Approved
May 5, 2022
The Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority (RPRA) has provided final approvals for Blue Box simplified fee setting. Stewardship Ontario can confirm that most stewards will no longer need to report their annual supply data to Stewardship Ontario.
RPRA had provided conditional approval of simplified fee setting on March 2, 2022. Stewardship Ontario has now satisfied the conditions and the Rules for Stewards and the Policy that will guide implementation have been finalized.
The Policy for Simplified Steward Fee Setting During the Blue Box Wind Up includes the following optional and mandatory circumstances where the simplified fee setting model will not apply:
- Stewards that Enter the Ontario Market, Leave the Ontario Market, or have not Filed their Complete and Accurate 2020 and 2021 Reports for any Reason (data reports need to be submitted via the WeRecycle Portal)
- Divestiture of a Business Subsidiary or Product Line and potentially the corresponding acquisition by another steward
- Discontinuance of a Product Line
- Newspapers that are Subject to the CNA/OCNA Amendment to the Stewardship Ontario Blue Box Program Plan (data reports need to be submitted via the WeRecycle Portal).
Stewards are encouraged to review the simplified fee documents available on the Stewardship Ontario website to determine if they may be required to submit detailed material reports to Stewardship Ontario for the remaining years of the program, which ceases operations in 2025.
Stewardship Ontario is available to assist with questions about how the Policy circumstances apply to individual situations and can advise on specific reporting requirements and timelines. Please contact us: werecycle@stewardshipontario.ca.
Note that most stewards (referred to as producers under the new Blue Box Regulation), will likely be required to submit 2021 designated material information to RPRA in the fall of 2022, regardless of whether or not material reports were submitted Stewardship Ontario. Stewards should refer to the RPRA website for additional details, including reporting deadlines.
Consultation on Blue Box Rules and New Policy for 2022
March 4, 2022
Following the Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority’s (RPRA) recent conditional approval of the simplified fee-setting proposal for the Blue Box program, Stewardship Ontario will be consulting stakeholders about draft program Rules and a new Policy that will guide implementation.
Following the approval, and once Stewardship Ontario satisfies the specified conditions, most stewards will not be required to submit detailed material reports to Stewardship Ontario. This change may be effective beginning in 2022 and will be in place for the remaining years of the program, which ceases operations in 2025. Annual fees will be calculated from each steward’s budget share, with the percentage based on individual steward fees for invoice years 2021 and 2022 (2019 and 2020 sales data years).
The draft program Rules and Policy provide details about steward requirements for simplified fee setting. The drafts, along with the Addendum to the Blue Box Program Transition Plan and RPRA’s approval letter with conditions are available on the Stewardship Ontario website.
Stakeholders are encouraged to review the drafts and provide feedback during a two-week consultation period ending March 18, 2022. Comments and questions can be submitted to: consultation@stewardshipontario.ca.