Frequently Asked Questions

No. An environmental fee is not a government tax and cannot be represented as mandatory, a regulatory charge, or a RPRA fee. It is a fee charged at the discretion of a business to recover their costs related to recycling the product.

Businesses have the choice to recover the cost of recycling their products by incorporating those costs into the overall cost of their product (as they do with other costs, such as materials, labour, other regulatory compliance costs, etc.) or by charging it as a separate fee to consumers.

Environmental fees on batteries, electronics, hazardous and special products or tires are not mandatory and are applied at the discretion of the business charging them, including the amount of the fee.

No, only producers are required to pay RPRA program fees.  The decision to make producers pay fees and cover the Authority’s costs was made to reflect the fact that the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA) is based on a producer responsibility framework. Although producers may hire service providers to help meet their obligations, the responsibility remains with the producer.

No. Section 68 subsection (3) of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act states that “a person responsible for establishing and operating a collection system shall ensure that no charge is imposed at the time of the collection.”

If you are required to pay a fee during registration or when you are providing an annual data report for Batteries, Tires, and/or Electronics you can select from one of the following payment methods:

• Bank withdrawal (pre-authorized debit)
• Credit card
• Electronic data interchange (EDI)
• Electronic bill
• Cheque

If you are required to pay a fee during manual registration for Blue Box and/or Hazardous and Special Products, you can select from one of the following payment methods:

• Electronic data interchange (EDI)
• Electronic bill
• Cheque

Instructions for submitting your payment are provided during the registration process.

Beginning October 1, 2021, producers of oil filters and non-refillable pressurized containers, or PROs acting on their behalf, are required to establish and operate a promotion and education program including the following:

• promote their collection and management services with respect to the type of HSP they are obligated for
• provide the following information on a website with respect to that type of HSP:
  • the location of each HSP collection site established or operated by the producer that is accessible to the public and the types of HSP accepted at each site
  • the location and date of each HSP collection event held by the producer and the types of HSP accepted at each event
  • a description of the collection services provided by the producer, other than HSP collection sites and HSP collection events
  • a description of how the producer manages that type of HSP after it is collected
  • create promotional and educational materials with respect to that type of HSP that include the following:
    • the website URL
    • a description of how that type of HSP is collected and managed
  • the producer shall make the promotional and educational materials available to retailers that supply that type of HSP, municipal governments and Indigenous communities, and shall solicit and consider feedback on how the promotional and educational materials can be improved
  • the producer shall promote each HSP collection event for that type of HSP in the local municipality or territorial district where it will be held for at least one week prior to the date of the event using a combination of two or more forms of media, including but not limited to:
    • local print publications
    • local print media
    • local radio
    • local signage or social media

Beginning October 1, 2021, producers, or PROs acting on their behalf, of oil containers, antifreeze, pesticides, solvents, paints and coatings are required to establish and operate a promotion and education program including the following:

• Promote their collection and management services with respect to the type of HSP they are obligated for
• Provide the following information on a website with respect to that type of HSP:
  • the location of each HSP collection site established or operated by the producer that is accessible to the public and the types of HSP accepted at each site
  • the location and date of each HSP collection event held by the producer and the types of HSP accepted at each event
  • a description of the collection services provided by the producer, other than HSP collection sites and HSP collection events
  • a description of how the producer manages that type of HSP after it is collected
• Create promotional and educational materials with respect to that type of HSP that include the following:
  • the address of the website
  • a description of how that type of HSP is collected and managed
• The producer shall make the promotional and educational materials available to retailers that supply that type of HSP, municipal governments and Indigenous communities, and shall solicit and consider feedback on how the promotional and educational materials can be improved
• The producer shall promote each HSP collection event for that type of HSP in the local municipality or territorial district where it will be held for at least one week prior to the date of the event using a combination of two or more forms of media, including but not limited to:
  • local print publications
  • local print media
  • local radio
  • local signage or social media

Beginning October 1, 2021, producers are obligated to:

• establish and operate a promotion and education program starting in 2022
• provide information on their website about how consumers can use, share and properly dispose of fertilizer with local requirements
• create promotional and education materials that include:
  • The website URL
  • A description of how consumers can use, share and properly dispose of fertilizer
• solicit, consider feedback from, and make the promotional and education materials available to:
  • Indigenous communities
  • Municipal governments
  • Retailers that supply fertilizers
• provide information to municipalities on innovative end-use options for fertilizers as an alternative to disposal

Beginning October 1, 2021, producers or PROs acting on their behalf, of mercury-containing devices are required to establish and operate a promotion and education program that:

• Promotes their collection and management services with respect to the type of HSP they are obligated for
• Provides the following information on a website with respect to that type of HSP:
  • the presence of mercury in that type of HSP
  • how to distinguish that type of HSP from similar products that do not contain mercury
  • the hazards to human health and the environment related to mercury
  • how consumers can properly dispose of that type of HSP
  • a description of the collection services provided by the producer under this Regulation for that type of HSP
  • a description of how the producer manages that type of HSP after it is collected under this Regulation
• Creates promotional and educational materials with respect to that type of HSP that include the following:
  • the address of the website
  • a description of how that type of HSP is collected and managed
• The producer shall make the promotional and educational materials available to retailers that supply that type of HSP or similar products that do not contain mercury, municipal governments, and Indigenous communities, and shall solicit and consider feedback from those retailers, municipal governments and Indigenous communities on how the promotional and educational materials can be improved