On June 4, 2025, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (the Ministry) proposed several amendments to the Blue Box Regulation. These proposed changes come alongside proposed amendments to the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (Act). These amendments, if made, would significantly change the obligations of producers and producer responsibility organizations (PROs) under Ontario’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime, with the stated objectives of addressing higher than expected collection and recovery costs, improving cost disclosure, and enhancing the transparency of the blue box system for the benefit of producers and the public.
The Current Blue Box Regulation
The Blue Box Regulation, enacted under the Act, makes producers of designated products and packaging, specifically those composed of glass, plastic, metal or paper (known as “blue box materials”), financially and practically responsible for the collection and recovery of those materials. By shifting the financial and logistical burdens of waste diversion away from municipalities and First Nations communities to producers, the Blue Box Regulation is intended to incent producers to use more sustainable materials that are easier and cheaper to recover and reuse.
Starting in 2026, the Blue Box Regulation would, in its current form, require producers to expand the collection of blue box materials to more apartments, schools, specified long-term care homes and retirement homes. It would also require producers to meet mandatory recovery targets for specific categories of materials, a departure from the “best efforts” standard to which producers are currently held.
The Proposed Amendments
Citing high inflation, labour shortages and supply chain bottlenecks, the Ministry proposes the following amendments to the Blue Box Regulation to manage the rising costs associated with collection, sorting and recovery of blue box materials:
1. Delayed and Reduced Recovery Targets
The Ministry proposes to delay the enforcement of recovery targets for paper, rigid plastic, glass, metal and beverage containers by five years from 2026 to 2031 to allow producers more time to plan and invest in collection and recycling capabilities. In addition, the recovery target for flexible plastics, such as food wraps, flexible pouches and bags, would be reduced from 25% to 5% of the amount of flexible plastic introduced into the Ontario marketplace in the previous calendar year, with enforcement similarly postponed until 2031.
2. Permitting Energy Recovery to Count Towards Diversion Targets
Currently, materials recovered to be used as fuel or sent to an incinerator do not count toward a producer’s recovery targets. The proposed changes would allow producers to count the use of non-recyclable materials for energy recovery (i.e., used as fuel in incineration in certain circumstances or to produce fuel) towards 15% of a producer’s mandatory recovery target for a single material category.
3. Eliminating Expanded Collection Requirements
The amendments would eliminate the requirement for producers to expand blue box collection to multi-residential buildings, schools, and specified long-term care homes and retirement homes that previously did not have municipal blue box services before the transition to the current blue box program began. Similarly, the proposed amendments would remove the requirement for producers to collect blue box materials from public spaces unless those spaces had already been added to the blue box program by the end of 2025.
Finally, the proposed changes would remove the obligation for beverage producers to collect non-alcoholic containers from sources other than residential blue boxes (i.e., “away from home” locations).
Technical Changes
The Ministry is also considering several technical changes, including:
- Requiring that all collected materials be delivered to registered processors to ensure that these materials are not sent to landfill, a risk that would otherwise exist until 2031, assuming the mandatory recovery targets are delayed
- Amending collection requirements for schools to specify that producers are responsible for collecting all blue box materials generated by all users of a school building
- Clarifying that producer-run blue box depots must accept blue box materials from residents of unorganized territories where those residents also have access to a garbage depot in their municipality
- Requiring producers and PROs to provide blue box services to newly built residences, newly registered facilities and First Nations communities within the timelines established by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA), which the RPRA would consult on before finalizing
- Narrowing the circumstances in which producers are required to distribute blue box program educational materials in print form or in French
Looking Ahead
The Ministry has stated that it is looking for feedback from producers, PROs and processors on its proposed amendments. Public consultation period for the proposed changes to the Blue Box Regulation is open until July 4, 2025, and July 21, 2025, for proposed amendments to the Act, which primarily contemplate new requirements for producers and PROs to provide information and documentation to the RPRA, the public or others that are party to an agreement under the Act.
For further information or assistance in making submissions on the proposed amendments, please contact the authors or any member of our Environmental group.
