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Blue Box Transition

Simplified Fee Setting

In October 2021, Stewardship Ontario proposed a significant change to the way it sets annual Blue Box fees paid by stewards. Simplified fee setting eliminates the need for most stewards to report annual supply-to-market data, reducing the administrative burden and program management costs during the Blue Box transition.

Simplified fee setting also avoids the potentially costly and confusing process of stewards reporting data to both Stewardship Ontario as well as to RPRA and a Producer Responsibility Organization under the new Blue Box Regulation.

Approval and Implementation

Stakeholders were surveyed and participated in January 2022 webinars. The proposal was submitted to RPRA in January 2022 and approved with conditions in March 2022 as an addendum to the Blue Box Transition Plan. The conditions were satisfied by Stewardship Ontario, and the Rules required to give effect to the change were approved by RPRA in May 2022.

With the final approval, most stewards no longer need to report their annual supply data to Stewardship Ontario for the remaining years of the program, which ceases operations at the end of 2025.

For stewards who do not need to report, annual fees will be based on individual steward fees for invoice years 2021 and 2022 (2019 and 2020 sales data years). The calculation and circumstances where the simplified fee setting model will not apply are detailed in the Policy for Simplified Steward Fee Setting.

Optional and mandatory circumstances where the simplified fee setting model will not apply include:

  • Stewards entering/leaving the Ontario market; and/or who have not filed complete 2019 and 2020 data by July 31, 2022. (Reports need to be submitted via the WeRecycle Portal)
  • Divestiture of a subsidiary or product line (and potentially the corresponding acquisition by another steward)
  • Discontinuance of a product line
  • Newspapers subject to the CNA/OCNA Amendment to the Stewardship Ontario Blue Box Program Plan.

Forms must be completed to request a modification to a simplified fee percent share allocation for product line Divestitures or Discontinuances.

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.

Stewards not covered by simplified fee setting should review this reporting information.