Proposed Changes To Ontario's Recycling Regime (Part 2): Amendments To The Blue Box Regulation

In Part 2 of our three-part series on proposed changes to Ontario's extended producer responsibility ("EPR") regimes, we provide an overview of the recently proposed amendments to the Blue Box regulation (the "Regulation") under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act (the "Act") and its impacts on producers and Producer Responsibility Organizations ("PROs") involved in Ontario's Blue Box program. These proposed amendments to the Regulation come at the same time as proposed amendments to the Act (read more in Part 1) and draft guidance published by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority ("RPRA") relating to Ontario's collection system requirements and minimum management requirements (read more in Part 3).

Public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Regulation is open until July 4, 2025. Public consultation on the proposed amendments to the Act and the draft guidance is discussed in Part 1 and Part 3.

Background

The Act implements EPR in Ontario for producers supplying designated products to consumers that end up in the residential waste stream at their end of life. The Act also creates and governs the operation of RPRA, the body regulating these programs. Regulations under the Act set out program requirements for the management, collection and recycling of designated materials, specifically the Blue Box, Batteries, Electrical and Electronic Equipment ("EEE"), Hazardous and Special Products ("HSP") and Tires programs.

Proposed Amendments

There are thirteen proposed amendments to the Regulation intended to provide cost relief and slow down expansion during this transition stage of the Blue Box program:

1. Delay Recovery Targets for Select Material Categories: Delaying the recovery targets set to come into effect in 2026 by five years to 2031 for paper, rigid plastic, glass, metal and beverage containers and thereby pushing out the 2030 targets to 2035.
2. Remove Planned Expansion for Multi-Residential Buildings, Schools and Specified Long-Term Care Homes and Retirement Homes: Removing the requirement starting in 2026 to require producers to collect blue box material from multi-residential buildings, specified long-term care and retirement homes, and schools that did not already have blue box services or had contracted with a private third party for recycling collection services. This change would exclude facilities who were already being serviced by the blue box program before transition to the current Blue Box program.
3. Remove Requirement to Collect Beverage Containers "Away From Home": Removing the management requirement for beverage containers used for business purposes so that all blue box material obligations under the Blue Box Regulation only relate to materials ending up in the residential waste stream.
4. Remove Expansion of Public Space Collection: Removing requirements to expand public space blue box material collection unless already transitioned to the Blue Box program by the end of 2025.
5. Reduce and Delay Flexible Plastic Recovery Target: Reducing the recovery target for flexible plastic (e.g., food wraps, pouches and bags) to 5% and delaying the recovery target from 2026 to 2031.
6. Allow Energy Recovery to Count Toward Diversion Targets: Allowing producers to send collected blue box material for energy recovery of up to 15% of the management target and defining energy recovery as the use of non-recyclable material as a direct fuel source in an incineration activity (e.g., energy-from-waste facility, cement kiln, etc.) or as feedstock to produce fuel (e.g., pyrolysis or gasification to generate diesel).
7. Consider the Best Ways to Ensure Collected Materials are Sent for Processing: The government is considering whether to continue the "best efforts" standard for meeting regulatory requirements until 2031 or amending the Regulation to clarify that all collected materials must be sent to a registered processor and not to a landfill (note that in practice, material collected through a blue box collection system is in fact sent to processors, but there is currently no regulatory requirement in effect to mandate this).
8. Clarify Definition of Facility: Revising definition of "facility" from a wide variety of multi-unit residential establishments to only including multi-residential buildings with six or more residential units. Multi-unit residential buildings with five or less residences would then be considered a residence.
9. Clarify Collection Requirements for Schools: Clarifying that producers are responsible for collecting all blue box materials generated at a school to ensure that there is no loss of service for other users of school buildings such as daycares or community centres.
10. Maintain Depot Access for Residents in Unorganized Territories: Clarifying that producer-run blue box depots must accept blue box materials from residents in unorganized territories (i.e., parts of northern Ontario where there is no local municipality to provide services) where these residents also have access to a garbage depot in that municipality.
11. Update Timelines for Providing Blue Box Services: Requiring producers and PROs to meet timelines for servicing newly built residences, facilities that have registered after 2026 and offering services to First Nation Communities after 2026 following a consultation by RPRA on the timelines.
12. Provide More Flexibility on Printed Promotion and Education Materials: Only requiring promotional and educational materials to be provided in print (as opposed to online) to residents and facilities when requested by a municipality or resident.
13. Provide Flexibility on French Language Requirements: Changing the French language requirement to only in areas that are designated under the French Language Services Act or when requested by a municipality or resident.

The amendments being proposed are a first step as the government considers broader measures to help stabilize system costs while maintaining producer and resident confidence in the Blue Box program. No additional information on later steps and potential future amendments has been provided at this time.

Stakeholders with obligations under the Regulation that may be impacted by these proposed amendments are encouraged to make submissions while the consultation period remains open.

The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.

© McMillan LLP 2025