Blue Box

Ontario’s Blue Box Regulation under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, requires producers to operate and pay for the collection and reuse, refurbishment and recycling of Blue Box materials. On April 14, 2022, the Government of Ontario made amendments to the regulation to clarify the process for creating the province-wide system for collecting Blue Box materials that will be operated by producer responsibility organizations (or PROs) on behalf of producers.

As of July 1, 2023, when municipalities and First Nation communities started transitioning their Blue Box programs to the new framework, Blue Box producers became fully accountable and financially responsible for collecting and recycling their Blue Box materials when consumers discard them.

The previous recycling program for Blue Box materials operated by Stewardship Ontario on behalf of stewards under the Blue Box Program Plan and Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016 transitioned to the new regulatory framework for resource recovery from July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2025.

Stewardship Ontario ceased operations at the end of the transition and is no longer administering the program. Producers (also known as stewards under the legacy program) with questions about the end of Stewardship Ontario’s operations, refunds for 2025 steward fees, or upcoming MFAM payments, please contact Stewardship Ontario at [email protected].

Visit the Legacy Blue Box Program page for information about the program operated by Stewardship Ontario, including the Blue Box Program Plan and other program documents, the Blue Box Steward Funding Obligation, the Municipal Funding Allocation Model (MFAM), the InKind Advertising Program and Datacall.

Visit the New Blue Box Program page for information about Ontario’s Blue Box Regulation, including what materials are obligated, regulatory requirements for specific roles (e.g. producer, PRO, processor, municipality, First Nation community), key dates and deadlines, and FAQs.