CIF Bulletin

MOECC Releases Direction for Proposal for Amended Blue Box Program Plan

RPRA and SO required to submit proposal by February 15, 2018

The Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Chris Ballard issued a Direction for Proposal for an amended Blue Box Program Plan on August 14, to the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority ("the Authority") and to Stewardship Ontario (SO).

The letter directs RPRA and SO to submit a proposal for an amended Blue Box Program Plan by February 15, 2018.

The proposal is to be developed collaboratively with municipalities, stewards and affected stakeholders.

View Minister's Letter

It is expected to outline the first stage in the transition of the program from the current shared cost model to full producer responsibility pursuant to Section 13 of the Waste Diversion Transition Act (WDTA).

The proposal will also set the stage for the second phase of the transition that will result in individual producer responsibility under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act (RRCEA).

A selection of additional details follow in this notice. 

We encourage stakeholders to review the Minister's letter.

Additional information from the Minister's letter

In addition to setting out terms of the transition between municipalities and producers, the Minister's letter requests that the proposal be consistent with principles that include:

ensuring a seamless transition of the Blue Box program
working towards the circular economy by supporting reduction, reuse, recycling and reintegration of PPP materials into the economy
providing for continuous improvement of environmental outcomes, by harmonizing the list of materials in the Blue Box program, establishing collection and measurable management standards and developing methods to support waste reduction.
providing effective economic methods to incent behaviour changes to promote waste reduction
driving innovation
avoiding stranded assets as much as possible
providing choices for municipalities where SO is to provide Blue Box services and
addressing issues related to the in-kind contribution from the newspaper industry.

The letter provides additional direction under several broad categories in an Addendum, among them, increasing the diversion target for the Blue Box Program to 75% and setting out a requirement to set material-specific management targets for PPP.

There is considerable additional detail in the Minister's letter of August 14, 2017.

The CIF will forward and post further information as it becomes available.