Stewardship Ontario is consulting with newspaper stewards and municipalities about proposed changes to the methodology for calculating whether a cash portion will apply to the in-kind obligation during the transition of the Blue Box Program for the 2024 and 2025 funding years.
The consultation is only relevant for:
- News Media Canada and Ontario Community Newspaper Association (NMC/OCNA) stewards
- Municipalities not transitioning to the new regulatory framework in 2023.
Under the Blue Box Program Plan, NMC/OCNA stewards contribute newspaper advertising linage to municipalities and First Nations in lieu of cash funding. Some of this obligation may need to be paid in cash if commodity prices reach a certain level, which is calculated based on a methodology outlined in the Blue Box Program Plan.
Some data inputs required to determine the cash portion that may apply to the in-kind obligation will not be available as participating communities transition to the new producer responsibility framework under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.
Proposed changes to the calculation methodology have been developed by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) to enable it to determine the potential cash obligation using the remaining available data.
Background and details about the proposed methodology change are included in this presentation file.
Webinars and Feedback
Webinars co-hosted with the RPRA will be held November 30, 2022:
- Municipalities at 10 am ET: Register here
- Newspaper stewards at 1 pm ET: Register here
Municipalities and stewards can provide any feedback by December 9, 2022, by sending email to consultation@stewardshipontario.ca.