Thinking outside the (blue) box…

… with John Hayes, Head of North America Region and Compliance Solutions

5 June 2023

Landbell Group company, H2 Compliance currently operates three producer responsibility organisations (PROs) in Ontario. See previous COMPASS article here.

These PROs offer clients compliance solutions for end-of-life packaging (under the Blue Box programme), e-waste and end-of-life batteries.

What’s the latest news from Ontario, John?

We recently signed our first Blue Box client and are now serving customers for all three waste streams. We are actively working with more than 1,000 companies to help them find appropriate solutions for each of these waste streams and, in some instances, for all three waste streams.

What’s happening with Blue Box – and what is its scope?

Following a regulatory change in Ontario, the responsibility for the management of end-of-life packaging is moving to an extended producer responsibility (EPR) model.

Ontario covers a very large area and for Blue Box materials, the roll-out of the new PRO coverage with the Ontario regulator, the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) will occur over a three-year period.

In total, there are 241 designated municipalities and, in 2023, 64 of these municipalities will be included in the programme. This number will increase next year until, by 2025, all municipalities are covered by the new programme.

It is estimated that in 2023, the total packaging volume that will be managed by the new PRO system will be approximately 203,732 tonnes. This will increase to approximately 611,196 tonnes in 2025 when all the municipalities are included in the programme.

Which deadlines are pending for producers?

The deadline for companies to submit their 2022 Blue Box data was 31 May 2023 and the deadline to select a PRO for Blue Box is 1 July 2023.

As I mentioned, H2 Compliance is offering clients support with their compliance obligations for each of the three waste streams: packaging, e-waste and batteries.

We can provide tailored and effective offers to you to assure your compliance. For e-waste and end-of-life batteries, we can discuss your status and help you to make your company compliant.

Where can we find out more?

To support our clients, we have developed a new website detailing our offers and services. Please visit us there and get in touch, we would love to help you!