The new Blue Box Regulation (Ont. Reg. 391/21) under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 came into force on June 3, 2021. This regulation shifts the responsibility of operating and paying for Ontario’s recycling program, currently run by Stewardship Ontario, on to Producers of Blue Box Materials. This transition will take place between July 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025; however, there are important registration requirements effective as of this year that Producers, Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) and Processors ought to be aware of, as detailed below.
What are Blue Box Materials?
Blue Box Materials include packaging, paper products or packaging-like products primarily comprised of paper, glass, metal or plastic, or a combination of these materials.
- Product Packaging -
- Primary packaging: containment, protection, handling, and presentation of a product at the point of sale. E.g. film and cardboard used to package a 24-pack of water bottles and the label on the water bottle.
- Transportation packaging: facilitate the handling or transportation of products such as a pallet, bale wrap or box.
- Convenience packaging: used in addition to primary packaging to facilitate end users’ handling of products. E.g. bags and boxes supplied to end users at check out.
- Food or beverage accessories: products supplied for the purpose of being used to facilitate the consumption of food or beverage products and are ordinarily disposed of after a single use such as a straw, cutlery or plates.
- Ancillary products: elements integrated into packaging that help the consumer use the product and are disposed of with the primary packaging. E.g. a mascara brush forming part of a container closure, devices for measuring volume that form part of a detergent container cap, or the pouring spout on a juice or milk carton.
- Paper Products - This includes printed and unprinted paper, such as a newspaper, magazine, greeting cards, notebooks/ planners, promotional material, catalogue or paper used for copying…etc. However, books and periodicals are not considered “paper products” for the purpose of this regulation.
- Packaging-Like Product – These products are used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery, presentation or transportation of things and are usually disposed of after a single use. This includes: aluminum foil, metal tray, plastic film, plastic wrap, wrapping paper, paper bags, beverage cups, plastic bag, cardboard box, but does not include a product made from flexible plastic that is ordinarily used for the containment, protection, or handling of food, such as cling wrap, sandwich bags, or freezer bags.
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